


A Bite of Revolution

by Pinky_GOOLI002



Series: The Bite Series [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/F, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Human/Vampire Relationship, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Multi, Physical Abuse, Rape, Torture, Vampire Bites, Vampire Family, Vampire Hunters, Vampire Sex, Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 39,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23184679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinky_GOOLI002/pseuds/Pinky_GOOLI002
Summary: Rea, a vampire only recently turned, accidentally changes the course of history... twice.By getting caught, she is the catalyst for the enslavement of vampiresTHIS IS A PREQUEL TO THE WHIP'S BITE
Series: The Bite Series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665790
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The room was full of flower and powder, the lamps lighting it with a warm glow, and the scent of sweat slowly settling down. I sat backstage after everyone left, staring at my hands as they shook, barely holding onto the cloth that I was using to clean my face.

_Such a good job! Well done! congratulations! So beautiful! Magical!_

I have got praise in my life before, but never had it been so bountiful.

_Rea you should be so proud!_

And I knew exactly why everyone, cast and audience, went out of their way to applaud me tonight, after probably my worst performance in more than 10 years on stage.

This was my last show, and everyone knew it. The understudy couldn’t keep her stupid mouth shut.

There was a knock on the door, and a perfect face surrounded by blond locks poked through.

I put the cloth down, and rested my hands on my crossed knees to hide my tremors.

“Excuse me, I was hoping to catch you, get a quick autograph if I may?” her voice was beautiful, and she looked only a little older than me, but obviously a wealthy married woman.

People asking for my autograph was not unheard of, but people being allowed backstage was.

“Um, of course,” I stood up, trying to not let my stiff muscles show, and took the picture and pen from her steady hands with my shaking ones. 

As I sat back down to sign the portrait of myself she came closer, looking at me with intent I couldn’t understand. She was so tall and her eyes so blue, she made me uncomfortable.

“I can help you, if you let me,” she said quietly, putting her hand on my shaking one, “I can make this illness go away.”

She’s a witch, must be, who else would offer me something so ridiculous. 

But what do I have to loose at this point? The doctors think I only have a few months left to live.

“How?” my voice shook, broke even, as I forced myself to look at her face.

“I can give you a new life, make you stronger, heal your illness, so you can dance again,” she paused, smiling gently at my confusion, “a different life, nothing like you know, eternal, living in the darkness, as part of one of the greatest families, as part of my family,” she got to her knees next to me, standing on her expensive light blue dress. I let her take both of my hands in hers, confused and mostly scared. What exactly was it she was offering me? It sounded too good to be true. She even felt like a witch, the way her skin felt on mine, it was obvious she was not human.

I was young, but I was not stupid.

“Alright, what will it cost me?”

“Cost you?” She looked puzzled, and chuckled, “Dear girl, I’m not a black witch, I’m not here to take your soul or steal your dancing, I adore your performance, you voice, I’m not hear to cheat you out of it, I simply… want to keep it in this world.”

She stood up, looking disappointed, “this is an offer, if you want to breath past this illness, to give this existence for another, you’re welcome to join me,” she started to walk away, “you will find me address on the back of the picture,” she said over her shoulder as she closed the door to the dressing room behind her.

It took me over two hours to make it to the address on the back of the picture I signed. It was an impressive house made of white and red brick. This woman obviously had money.

Walking became harder with every day, my muscles stiffening, so even though the house was only a couple of streets away from the company’s house where I was staying it still took so long before I rang the bell.

The door opened immediately, and the blond witch, or whatever she was, stood there with a smile.

“So you’ve made your choice?”

“With all due respect, ma’am, it wasn’t much of a choice.”

“I wouldn’t have offered it if was, and you may call me Noelle,” her eyes hinted sadness as she said that, and she indicated for me to come in. The house was all lit, but seemed empty, no servants or maids running around.

She led me to the reading room at the back, and sat with me on a big luxurious sofa facing the dark windows. She studied me with what seemed like hungry eyes for a long, awkward moment, before taking a deep breath.

“Are you ready to begin, Rea Horton?” She was so formal, as if I was signing a contract.

I have nothing to loose, my life is already over.

“Yes.”

“Fantastic, then first thing’s first,” she took her bare arm to her mouth, and for the first time I noticed her fangs, long, sharp and pristine as she bit her own forearm.

I started shaking so hard, I couldn’t move away even though my brain was screaming at me to run.

“Come here, don’t worry,” she stretched her bleeding arm to me, blood hanging from her lips, her fangs so long they passed her lower lip, her eyes darker than before, the veins around them more prominent.

This must be a nightmare, but it’s of my own making.

She helped me, coming closer, holding my body steady against the tremors so I could swallow the blood dripping from her arm. But a couple of drops weren’t enough for her, she waited for me to suck at the wound a whole mouthful of her cold blood before she took her arm away.

“Good girl,” she whispered in my ear, like a child, as I wiped my mouth and noticed the tears running down my face.

“Now this is going to hurt a little, please try not to scream,” her voice was so soft, it seemed unconnected to her words.

She took my hand gently, caressing my skin as she lifted the sleeve of my coat out of her way. Then, as if my arm was as soft as cake, she bit my wrist so deep I felt her fangs ripping my veins.

I put my other hand on my mouth, stifling a cry as it felt like my bones were grinding against her teeth due to my shaking.

I was sure I was going to die, but then she let my wrist go, quickly covering the wound with her hand to stop it spilling, but drops still managed to stain her beautiful blue dress.

For some reason I felt violated in a way I have never been before, and she looked at me with such sweet pity as my blood covered her lips.

“Oh sweet Rea, don’t you worry,” she took my other hand and brought me to my feet, holding me up so strongly it didn’t matter I could barely stand.

“Is this it?” I managed to ask through my tears, the pain in my muscles and bones only growing stronger.

“No,” she answered, sounding genuinely sorry, and then led me up the stairs to a grand bath, almost lifting me half the way. I was too tired to ask why.

She sat me in it as my shaking subsided, the adrenaline wearing off and being replaced with shock. I barely noticed as she took my coat off, as she took my clothes off. She already took something deeper from me, seeing me naked meant very little after she drank my blood.

Once I was naked, lying in the bath, barely awake, she pressed a wine glass to my lips.

“You must drink this human blood my dear, or you’ll die,” she said as she poured the cold thick liquid into my mouth, and I forced myself to swallow the whole thing even though it burnt, almost forgetting why.

She held me up, sitting, as I faded in and out of consciousness for a moment, before the worst started.

It didn’t feel like throwing up something bad, it felt like throwing up dry, when you only have your own stomach juices left.

It burnt as I heaved a wave after wave of my own blood, almost chocking on it as it kept going. Noelle was holding me up through it, so when I finally coughed the last of it, feeling drained as a prune, I didn’t hesitate to let myself go as I fainted.


	2. Chapter 1

It had only been 18 months since I left, and I was back in the dressing room, surrounded by flowers as I cleaned my face from the makeup. The room was buzzing with energy and talk as everyone was undressing, chattering with adrenaline about the performance we just finished. 

_This was probably the best one of the year, first one to be sold out in months. E_ veryone was ecstatic, and I could feel how warm the air was, how happy and adoring they were around me.

They loved me.

I could smell it. I could smell the adrenaline and oxytocin in their blood, could hear them whispering about me on the other side of the room, how graceful I was, how jealous they all were that I came back, miraculously healed.

3It was so hard to sit there, not to take one of them to the corner and drink every millilitre of their youthful life.

I was so hungry, and it took so much to keep my fangs hidden, to keep my eyes from transforming, letting the veins around them darken, but I managed, just like I trained.

There was a knock on the door, and as girls hurried to cover themselves as the director, Glynis Atwater, walked in. She congratulated everyone as she made her way through the room, but she made her way to me.

“Rea! My star!” Glynis bent over to kiss my cheek, and I had to close my eyes to avoid her seeing them grow dark.

“Miss,” I smiled, avoiding touching her to keep myself reigned.

“I’m so glad you’re back with us, and tonight was such a joy! My choreography would have been wasted on anyone else,” she laughed, “just remember to eat well, you look so pale, and we don’t want your health going again now do we?” she stroked my hair, and I could almost hear the blood in her veins.

But she turned away, going to scold some girls for not being good enough or forgetting steps, and I was saved, avoiding biting her by a millisecond.

I could barely take it anymore, I had to get out…

I put my coat on, the one with the fur around the neck that reached all the way to the floor, and ‘hurried’ out (human speed hurry, which still felt painfully slow), while taking my tight bun down, letting my dark hair frame my face. I had a new bob haircut, just under chin length, in an attempt to avoid my hair from getting bloody constantly, and so far it had seemed to work.

At the stage door I was met with a huge bouquet and a familiar smell.

“Maeve!” I exclaimed, laughing and hugging my vampire half-sister.

She was shorter than me, and looked ever so slightly younger than me, but in reality was over 180 years old (I have yet dared to ask her when exactly is her birthday).

“Congratulations Rea! You were fabulous,” she smiled, kissing me on both cheeks, locking her arm in mine as we walked away from the theatre and pushing the bouquet into my hands.

“Oh, you didn’t need to… The dressing room is full of them,” I shook my head, but smelt them anyway.

She knew exactly what I liked, and how to get me something that would not overwhelm my senses, whilst still being pleasant.

Except for being a vampire in the first place, which so far had been very fun, she was the best thing about it.

“Come on, you know me! Also, you’ve been working on this for months now, you deserve to feel proud,” She pulled me into our carriage, and Norbert whipped the horses to move.

Most of the family lived in Eden Hall, all the way up in Cumbria, safe and surrounded by friends, but they also owned several houses within and around London, including Noelle’s one in which I was turned, and the one on the outskirts called Forty Hall, to which we were heading now. Currently It was only Noelle, Jerold (her mate), me and Maeve in Forty Hall, including, of course, the servants and blood banks (or coffers as we called them).

“You mean, I should feel proud I haven’t killed anyone?” I raised an eyebrow, and after a moment of silence, we burst out laughing. 

“God, I am starving,” I said when we finally caught our breath from laughter.

“Don’t worry, I got you a present at home,” she winked, and I was about to ask, but we then reached the courtyard and swiftly got off the carriage.

I wish we could have run here, it would have been faster.

The smell of Forty Hall was so familiar now, it was truly my home, more than I’ve ever had a home. I could smell all the servants and coffers, I knew exactly where mother and father were sitting before even talking in the house (in the drawing room downstairs, as usual), and having Maeve by my side, I couldn’t be happier. Somehow in such a short time she became more than my sister, she became my best friend.

We walked into the house, Norbert leading the horses away, and immediately Humphrey was there to take our coats. He was elderly, his hair white already, but he was stalky and still did his job well, and Noelle claimed he still tasted good, so she kept him around still as her coffer. Not that I understood why, he smelt vile. But he was the butler, and alongside Louisa the housekeeper they were the people really in charge of the household. We couldn’t do a thing in here without them knowing, somehow they were as perceptive as the vampires in the house.

Maeve was about to drag me up stairs when Humphrey gave us such a death stare and a cough, “Miss Rea, your mother expects you.”

I exchanged a look with Maeve, slightly worried, what could mother need me for now? I’m starving… But Maeve let me arm go and shrugged, leaving me and disappearing up the stairs.

Hesitantly I made my way to the drawing room, where mother was reading a book and Jerold was painting. He was quite good, and his work was currently displayed all over the house. It was his new hobby for the last ten years apparently. Jerold was quite a short burly man, but by virtue of being a vampire, he was still elegant, with his light brown hair that fell around his round face to his shoulders. He was quite a warm, comfortable man, similar to Maeve warm nature. Unlike Noelle, my mother, who was tall and cold blond, threatening in every way, always going straight to business, ruthless and strong.

Our family, the Lyne clan, was lead by Octavia, my grandmother, and had always placed females above males, so it was unsurprising that Noelle was in charge in this household.

“Rea, come sit with me for a little before you go play with Maeve.”

Play, phhht, right now I had no patience to play with my food, but I knew she was right and Maeve liked to have fun before eating. So I sat down on the couch in front of her, crossing my legs, still wearing my leotard.

“I hope you had fun today, I heard it was quite a success,” mother put her book down, and leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees.

“Well, this is what you offered me, this is the reason I joined the family.”

“Of course! Of course! I’m not saying that you should stop dancing, my dear, but maybe… in a smaller company, less of a spotlight… You’re still just a fledgling, and we can not risk a mistake and an outing in this… political climate.” Her tone was as always, sweet and patronising.

I locked my jaw, “Mother, I just got this role, I am not going to give it up after the first performance, _especially_ when it is doing so well.”

She sighed. I knew full well she could order me to stop, and as my master, my maker, I would have to obey. But she wasn’t unkind, in the end she did care…

“Fine, but you have to make sure you are always well fed before you go… and I think it is time you get your own coffers.”

I blinked, surprised. Until a month ago I couldn’t even eat without automatically draining the body, and she already thought I could have a coffer? Maintaining the health of one was not easy, I even saw Frannie, one of Maeve’s blood banks, being ill and too drained a couple of times, being bed bound for a day or two from Maeve’s actions. And my sister was much older than me, then how did Noelle expect me to do it?

“I… Are you sure I’m ready for that?”

“Do you want to keep dancing in the theatre?”

“Of course.”

“Then find a coffer, I would suggest someone you trust, someone close, maybe even someone from the company, someone that wouldn’t out you when you first start… you know it takes several bites for the addiction and loyalty to start. So you need to know they won’t turn you in before that…” she stopped for a second, thinking, “I would avoid kidnapping for now, you’re too public for that…” she sighed, “this is why I didn’t want you to go back, it makes everything so complicated.”

“Noelle…” Jerold interrupted, setting his brush down, it seemed that he ignored us so far, but in reality he was obviously listening, “Let your child be, you can’t force her to grow up, let her enjoy this, before she has to stop due to lack of ageing.”

_Thank you father_ I thought. I was somehow closer to him, even though technically there were no blood relations. He was my mother’s mate, and that was as strong of a bond as you could get, but in reality I had none of his blood, and if he ordered me anything, I could easily disobey. Yet someone I ended up being daddy’s little girl.

Mother leaned backwards in her couch, sighing, “Fine, but you need to find a coffer or two before your next show.”

“That’s tomorrow evening…”

“So?”

I sighed, “Fine, now may I go eat?”

“Of course, enjoy, and try and keep it quiet this time,” father smiled, and I returned the smile, nodding in thanks before walking out of the drawing room. I could hear Mother whisper something as I walked out, but she said it too quietly even for my vampire ears to hear.

_Fuck, how on earth am I going to find a coffer before tomorrow night’s show?_ I shook my head, walking upstairs to my rooms, where I could smell Maeve and two human females. I walked in to find Maeve sitting between two whores, her long, soft strawberry blond hair tied back in a high ponytail, showing off her neck and highlighting the fact she was shirtless.

After the conversation I just had with mother, I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for this kind of fun.

“Surprise!” Maeve laughed, and the two woman waved with shy smiles. They were young, smelt of drugs and dirt, but still sweet.

“I’m sorry, I’m really not in the mood…” I shook my head, starting to head through the side door to my bedroom, but Maeve caught me, standing between me and the door.

After a whole day of humans, her speed caught me off guard.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to get myself a blood bank before tomorrow’s show, or mother won’t let me do it.”

“Ah…” she bit her lip, “well, let’s eat, then get to work… don’t want to try and find a coffer on an empty stomach now do we?” she was trying so hard to be cheery, but she could see my dread.

I sighed, nodded, and turned around to see the two women sitting there, confused and slightly worried.

“Which one do you want?”

“That one,” I answered as I walked in my natural speed to the older of the two painted ladies, being slightly angry and frustrated I didn’t try and take my time as I usually did, instead I simply grabbed her by the waist and the back of the head and sunk my extended fangs into the soft flesh where her neck became her shoulder.

My eyes grew darker when my fangs went out, and when the first drop of blood hit my tongue the veins around my eyes became dark red and purple: markings of an active vampire, our true form if you will.

The blood was as sweet, warm and thick as always, and with it came the images, the memories of my prey, giving me not only her life force as nourishment, but also her very being was mine, a bit of her mind dominated and taken away with each drop of blood. Her every memory, every emotion, passed by me like a film, filling me up with a wonderful feeling of power, and as she screamed in fear for her life I could feel it, I tasted her adrenaline, and it gave me a rush like nothing else. 

Blood always tasted the best when a strong emotion was involved. So far I have only tasted fear, but I heard that love or orgasm were just as good (or better according to some). That’s why coffers were useful. Not only were they reliable, but their addiction to the bite meant they enjoyed it, making the blood tastier for it.

I lost focus, thinking about it, and when I finished eating my leotard was covered in blood and I felt very unsatisfied. So I simply let go of the now dead body, ignoring Maeve and her prey, and walked to the bathroom, where the bath was warm and waiting (thank you Frannie). After peeling my clothes off, I sat in the water, letting it grow a red tinge as I soaked, trying to calm down from the panic that was growing in my stomach.

How will I bite someone without killing them?

Who on earth am I going to even try to persuade to become my blood bank?

I can’t loose dancing... not now... not when everything is going so well... 

I knew I couldn’t take anyone from the company itself. It was cut-throat enough, if any of the other girls had a way of getting rid of me, they would. I went through the list of everyone I knew in my mind, realising painfully that I never really had friends, not outside of the company anyway, and even then they were never too close. It made me even more grateful for Noelle offering me this life. But thinking of mother figures, I finally had an idea.

I ran into town instead of taking the carriage: It was faster and since it was night there was no one to see me in the autumn fog. It was refreshing and cool, and I felt so alive under the stars, like I could breath again. I felt strong, I felt the animal in me howling to the moon, I felt truly free.

I arrived in the company’s house, slowing down and walking silently through the back door that was always left unlocked for the girls who went out that night after the show (a little secret all the girls knew). I made my way swiftly into the staff section of the house, where the bigger private bedrooms were, trying to avoid being seen by any wandering, drunk girls. There I found the room I was looking for, of Lilibet Garland, the seamstress of the company.

She wasn’t much older than me, not that I ever knew her age, but she was always kind to me, fixing the holes in my second hand leotards and tights, she was the one who took care of me when I was ill, since the housekeeper and Glynis were always too busy.

Would she mind now, helping me?

If I didn’t kill her accidentally...

Unsure how to do this, I crouched down next to her, taking her arm gently from under the covers, my fangs already out from the run, and licked skin her on the biggest part of her forearm, hoping the chemicals in my saliva would sooth, the one that made the bite addictive, that healed wounds — not the one that was part of the transformation. — She stirred only a little. Her sweet smell, the blood being so close to me, I had to hold myself so hard to not let my instincts react, to bite her hard and drink her dry. Instead I bit her as softly as I could, and was ready with my other hand to shut her up if she screamed, but she didn’t, instead she groaned, her eyes fluttering open as the first drops reached my tongue, and as she looked at me I saw myself through her eyes, with my eyes closed, hunched hungrily over her arm, the veins stretching from my eyes angrily purple and red, like bloody bat wings on the sides of my face.

It was only a glimpse, before the image changed to an older memory, but it gave me such a shock that I let go, stumbling back a little. We stared at each other for a second, then I realised the bite was still bleeding, so I hurried over to lick and close it, but she flinched away, so I stopped, my arm stretched out towards her.

“Please, may I?” I didn’t know what else to say, but I slowly reached over, and she let me take her arm, and I had every intention of licking the wound close, but when my mouth was on it I forgot all intentions, and put my lips to the wound, sucking blood from it. It felt so good.

“Rea?” She asked faintly, bringing me out of my animalistic brain to realise what I was doing, and that I was taking way too much.

I forced myself, even though all I wanted was to keep drinking, to lick the wound a couple of times until the bleeding stopped, and step away from her.

She was leaning on the wall, dazed, pale. I took too much... if she dies, I’m screwed...

“What...?” She asked, looking at me, half awake, so cautiously I kneeled before her, taking her hand in mine. “I need your help Lilibet, and if you help me I can give you a better life, and we can be together, and enjoy each other, without living in this dump...” overcome by desire, with the taste of her blood still in my mouth, I stretched, pulling her gently to me, and kissed her, first slowly, then deeper as she started to kiss me back. But she was weak, and the kiss didn’t last as long as I wished it did (my fault, I took too much).

“Don’t you want this?” I breathed into her ear, passing my lips along her neck and breathing her in.

“I do,” she gasped, her voice shuddering, and I leaned back to see her face again, “so you’ll keep our little secret?” I smiled, kissing her gently again, making sure my fangs didn’t cut her lips (I knew I’d loose control again if I did).

“Alright...” she said, looking at me as I got to my feet with an emotion I couldn’t read.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, sleep now,” I smoothed her hair, putting her back into her covers. “And eat well,” I mumbled as she fell asleep, and I left her, my cheeks flushed, hoping and wishing she won’t say anything to anyone between now and when she will truly be mine.


	3. Chapter 2

“I did what you said, mother, I found a blood bank.”

“Good girl,” she didn’t look up from her book.

“Should I ask Louisa to prepare her a room?” That made her look up.

“You want to bring her here?”

“I offered it to her, yes, I don’t see why not, you have your coffers here.”

“You think all my blood banks live with me? Dear child, don’t be naive-“ she started to raise her voice, but then Maeve interrupted, “mum, it’s her first...” and that made mother stop for a second, look down reflectively, and sigh deeply.

“I’m sorry,” she said, getting up and hugging me into her chest. Something about her smell, her being my mother, made me feel so soft, so vulnerable and safe, calm.

“I forget how young you are, I’m sorry Rea, I should have thought more before bringing you into this dangerous times for us,” she stepped back, arms on my shoulders, “of course you can bring your coffer, but remember we need to be very careful now, not attract any attention to us as a family or estate. There’s something brewing and we need to stay on our toes, you understand?”

I nodded, “of course mother.”

She turned her head to Maeve, “you too, little rebel, stop killing so much, you hear me? Rely on your banks, stop being so reckless, you should know better.”

Maeve looked down in shame, “sorry mum.”

Noelle sighed and sat back down, “you two have no idea what is going on out there, and I hope you never will,” she picked up her book, fiddling with it, and shook her head slowly. I exchanged a quick worried look with Maeve, and Jerold whispered something into Noelle’s ear, making her wipe a blood tear away, and I heard him say again, “just tell them.”

“Maeve you remember my friend? Marcus Angus? He was captured by a couple of hunters and burnt alive... I just received a letter from his father, Vincent, telling me they had nothing left of the body or ashes. I’m sorry, it’s not a part of your world, you shouldn’t be bothered yet.”

Something in me was in physical pain from seeing my mother crying, so I took her hand, kneeling next to her “but it’s part of your world, you lost a friend, you deserve to mourn, and of course you’ll worry about us, but you don’t need to, we’re here, with you, we’re safe, we’ll be careful.” I squeezed her hand, and she pulled me close, kissing the crown of my head. “Go, enjoy yourself, bring that coffer home, I’m sure we can find something for them to do if they doesn’t have a job already.”

I nodded, getting up, “thank you,” I said, and as I was leaving I heard her say “good luck in your show tonight.”

It was a sunny late morning outside, and I had to squint my eyes for a while to get used to the light, and the way it felt uncomfortable and hot on my skin. It will never hurt, but it will never be pleasant again.

I was wearing my breeches on a pair of riding trousers underneath the large skirt of my simple brown dress. It was manly and unusual, but I never learnt to ride like a lady, so if I was already riding like a man might as well wear the trousers.

In the stables Norbert was grooming the horses, humming to himself. It was obvious this was still part of the morning routine, and it highlighted to me how human he was. He was Maeve’s coffer, and apparently has been for a long time, but only recently became the stable boy, since I joined the family and more horses were needed to keep a human face to the world.

“Good morning,” I curtsied, and made my way to my horse, a brown and black stallion named Jay.

“Morning miss Rea,” he replied and put down his brush, going to get my saddle. 

I was still not used to this status. Miss, having a house as grand as this, having my own horse. I grew up an orphan, only escaping the work house because of my talent in dance, but still grew up in the company house which was still a gloomy, strict place. I was the lowest of the low before I started to get main roles, and even then, once out of the theatre the charm was gone and I was back to living with rats.

But now I was strong and I was part of such a powerful family, both in human and vampire circles, and it felt so damn good.

Norbert put the saddle on, “are you sure you don’t want me to teach you how to ride respectfully?”

I blushed, “it’s okay, thank you, I’m just off to town to get someone and I’ll be back.”

“You don’t want me to get the carriage?”

“No...this needs to be more... private, but could you get some saddle bags?”

“I wish to take miss Garland off your hands.”

I sat in front of the owner of the dance company, Mr Grey, was an old man with a stone face, and therefore the owner of all the girls in it. I wasn’t sure about Lilibet, but I assumed that like Noelle did with me, I also had to buy Lilibet from Mr Grey.

He coughed, eyeing me, “she’s a very useful girl.”

“I have thirty pounds on me.” His eyes opened wide, and I knew I didn’t have to say much more, “if you sign miss Garland over to the Lyne family, I’ll give it to you, after all we also need a useful girl.”

He clicked his tongue, and silently took a blank page and a pen out of his drawer, and scribbled down a contract, and signed it, then slowly inched it towards me, his hand holding the page down, obviously waiting for me to present the money. So I did, taking the three notes out of my pocket and putting them down like he did his signature, even though internally I wanted to rip his stupid head off.

We exchanged, thanked each other, he passively reminded me that I still have a contract with him for this season, and I ignored it angrily while walking out, trying very hard not to turn around, break his arm and force him to beg me to kill him.

Downstairs, I said hello to everyone I knew, being polite, but careful to avoid Glynis as I made my way to Lilibet’s room. She wasn’t there, probably in the kitchen or somewhere doing chores, but I waited there, wanting to stay out of sight and out of mind.

I waited for two hours before she finally walked in. When she saw me she jumped, squeaking in alarm, then looked at the door then back at me.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt your day, but I needed to see you before tonight’s show...”

She held her hands together, looking down shyly.

“So it wasn’t a dream last night...” it wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t a confident statement either.

“No... and I wasn’t kidding,” I stood up, walking slowly to her, “if you want, I can take you now to join me in Forty hall, you could join the staff there, or work here, or you can even say no all together and stay here...” I reached her, and carefully took her hand, “please, I need someone to trust with this secret, with this new life of mine, and I’d like it to be you...” I never really thought about her in this romantic way before, but again, I was a virgin until a year ago... Maeve has brought something out of me that was completely hidden before. Both overall sexual, and her preference for women (and the acceptance of it by everyone around, after all our grandmother Octavia was lesbian) made me come to the realisation that I was the same, and because of that, and since last night, I finally let myself feel those emotions towards this person who I have known for half my life.

I grew up a lot in the last year and a half...

She blushed, and for a second I was terrified she would say no, both because she might tell, and mostly because what if she didn’t like me back?

But either because of my vampire charm or our childhood friendship, she finally nodded, “Okay, I’ll come with you,” she paused, and look back to the door again, taking her hand out of mine, “but I’m not sure I can just leave—”

“Don’t you worry about that, I took care of it, you’re free to do whatever you choose.”

“Oh...” she looked surprised, then blushed even harder, “then I guess that I would like to go with you.”

I grinned, and took a step closer, pinning her against the door, an arm either side of her shoulders. We were practically the same hight, so our faces were very close together when my fangs came out and my eyes darkened. She just gave herself to me, and every inch if me was thrilled, screaming to drink from her. But she didn’t flinch, even when my eyes were pitch black, she didn’t flinch, she just stared, as if in awe. And that look stopped me from biting straight away. It was so unexpected, that I found myself becoming softer, the killer in me taking the back seat.

“May I?” I whispered, quickly scanning the smells and sounds of the rooms around to make sure no one awake was around, just in case.

She gasped a little, very quietly, then nodded.

I moved my right arm to the back of her neck, and ravished in her smell, “just pull my hair as hard as you can if you feel faint... if I’m taking too much...” I purred into her ear, then nipped her neck just under it, biting into the big muscle that connected to her skull.

A quiet cry of pain escaped her lips, but I was already taken by her taste and my power over her, that it only made me bite harder. Everything else except for her memories was gone, it was just me and her blood.

I could feel her grab my hair, and at first I paid it no attention, but then she used both hands and yanked as hard as she could. She wasn’t strong enough to make me let go, but it was just painful enough to shake me out of my focus on the kill.

I collapsed at her feet, all energy suddenly gone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I keep taking too much,” I cried, blood tears filling my vision and then dripping down my face.

Shaking, she slowly sat down before me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to do this,” I hiccuped in air, “I don’t want to hurt you, but my instincts are sadistic.”

Then her hand was on my face, making me look up, and I saw her neck was still bleeding.

“You asked me to help you, this is the help you asked for, the risk you wanted me to take?”

I nodded, while trying to stop crying.

“You’re going to take me away from here and stay around with me... then it’s a risk I’m willing to take... and when have I ever refused to help you?” She smiled gently, and wiped the tears from my face, “I’m not sure what you got yourself into, but what friend would I be if I won’t stick around?”

I smiled with shaking lips, pulled myself closer, and kissed her gently. Then, while digging my nails into my palm to keep myself focused, I licked the bite on her neck until it stopped bleeding. We were now both covered in blood, but we exchanged looks, then burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

We arrived at Forty Hall on Jay’s back, with me sitting normally in the saddle and Lilibet sitting sideway in my lap, all her things filling the saddle bags.

It was adorable, but horribly distracting, and if it wasn’t for Jay’s smartness I would have ridden us into a tree while staring at Lilibet’s neck.

I knew Norbert was still in the stables by smell, and would offer to help us down, but I decided to stop in front of the house, right by the door, and I jumped off the horse’s back (physical agility and strength was another gift I could not thank Noelle enough for) and picked Lilibet’s by her hips and placed her easily down on the ground. She felt as light as a hey basket now, and she noticed how easy it was for me to lift her.

“Welcome home,” I smiled, indicating at the grand brick house that was radiating under the afternoon sun.

Then, as if on queue, the doors opened and Maeve run out at her normal speed, hugging me tight and making Lilibet jump (since all she could see was the door opening and then Maeve hugging me).

“So proud of you little sis, now won’t you introduce us?” I haven’t told Maeve who I was bringing at all, and she was obviously dying to know, so I had to chuckle.

“Of course,” I coughed politely, “Maeve, this is Lilibet, a long time friend who lived with me in the company’s house,” I paused and turned, “Lilibet, this is Maeve, my sister,” I halted seeing Lilibet’s confusion, “I’ll explain later.”

“Mum will love her,” Maeve commented, taking a lock of Lilibet’s brown hair and curling it around her finger, hungry look in her eyes. I found myself walking in between them, growling from the back of my throat, my fangs out, my whole body reacting in a possessive and protective way.

Maeve took a step back, smiling slightly nervously, but also genuinely, “Well that’s a good sign.”

I blinked in surprised, dropping my aggressive stance and staring, “what?”

Maeve laughed lightly, “If you’re already that possessive, not wanting to share, means she’s already bound to you,” she stepped closer to me, talking low now so only I could hear, “how many bites did it take?”

Her question made me aggressive again, but Lilibet noticed my physique changing, and put her hand on my arm, “It’s okay,” she said, and was about to say something else when she suddenly collapsed, eyes rolling back in her head as she fainted. I easily managed to catch her before she hit the ground, my fangs disappearing, and I picked her up, listening carefully for her heartbeat which seemed steady.

“I can smell the blood on your clothes, you properly drank from her didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to… I couldn’t help myself…”

“It should get easier as time goes by, as everything does,” Maeve put her hand on my shoulder as she said this, half hugging me, “now seriously, how many times?”

I rolled my eyes, “Twice, if you must know, you little nosey cat,” I laughed, pushing her slightly with my elbow, and she laughed with me.

“Well that is impressive, I’ve never bound a coffer that quickly,” she mused, “but then again, I’ve never took a human childhood friend as one either.”

Norbert appeared from the stables, as if hearing the horse’s noses or Maeve’s hunger, and took Jay’s reigns.

“Everything okay?” He peaked at Lilibet’s unconscious body in my arms. He knew was used to this, so was unsurprised seeing me hold her so easily.

“Don’t worry, pet,” Maeve smiled, walking to him, “if you’d like, I can do it to you too,” I heard her whisper to him, and saw the blood rush to his face… and his genitals.

I decided to leave them to it, putting the saddle bags over my shoulders and carried Lilibet inside. The second I walked through the door that Maeve left open, Louisa, Humphrey and Fiona were there.

“Welcome miss Rea, Please let me show you to her room,” she eyed Lilibet, “Fiona, get the poor child some soup water and milk,” she said over her shoulder as she lead us downstairs to the staff quarters, and I followed. Louisa was the housekeeper, an older woman who’s been in this house for a very long time, being Jerold’s coffer since.

“Lady Noelle said that we’ll have another staff soon, I didn’t expect it to be so soon, so the room is not properly aired as I would like, but it is ready for her,” Louisa started chattering, she was a lovely woman, but was very able to just keep talking, “it’ll be good to have another pair of hands now,” we then reached the door Louisa was heading for, and she opened it to a small bedroom. It wasn’t much, but it was still much nicer than the room she had in the company’s house.

“Do you know if she has any skills, miss?”

“She knows how to sow quite well,” I shrugged, walking into the room and putting Lilibet gently onto the bed. She groaned and turned, settling in into the plush mattress.

“Fantastic, well then, Fiona will get the food shortly, so why won’t you leave her now and go get ready for your dance performance?”

It took me a minute, but she was right, I needed to go get ready, and take a carriage into town, so I nodded absentmindedly and started to walk out.

“Oh, miss Rea, what’s your girl’s name?”

I blinked, surprised at the way she phrased it, and that I haven’t said that yet. “Lilibet Garland, and please, if she wakes, could you explain… everything to her?”

“Of course, of course,” she smiled sympathetically, “now hurry along, she’ll be alright here with us.”


	4. Chapter 3

“Rea!” Lilibet exclaimed in surprised, almost moaning my name.

“What?” I chuckled, raising my head from between her legs, a couple of drops of her blood on my lips.

“You bit me thigh!”

“And?” I smirked, “you liked it.”

She blushed, and I crawled on top of her, forcing my fangs back in to avoid hurting her needlessly, though I could not help the rest of my true form from showing, and I kissed her, pulling her up so that she sat on me, her legs wrapped around me. It was so easy to move her she was so light to me, and I loved how she let me do it.

I kissed her, kissed her face, her jaw, her neck, and bit her shoulder in my favourite spot, where the skin was close to the bone and the muscle of her arm just started. It prevented me from biting too deep, from taking too much, while still deep enough to be satisfying.

She moaned, caressing my neck and after a minute pulling my hair, reminding me to stop.

I felt as if I knew everything about her now, so often the same images came with her blood that they were rarely surprising or new. But now, just as I licked the bite to stop it bleeding something flickered that I’ve never seen or felt before. It was sweeter than anything I’ve ever tasted, full of adrenaline, but not fear...

I froze, looking up into her grey eyes in surprise. She was smiling dreamingly, eyes half closed, still high from my bite and woozy from the slight lack of blood, then rested her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes.

“Lili…” I sighed, hugging her tighter, though careful not to hurt her, and kissed her cheek before whispering into her ear, “I love you too.”

She blinked her eyes open, twisting a little so she could see me, but still resting on me, “what?” she muttered, dazed.

“I… heard… tasted it in your blood.”

She woke a little, straightening and facing me, blushing. “You did?”

I held her face in my hand, blushing too, “Yeah, and I love you too,” I leaned in and kissed her slowly, hearing her heartbeat increase and her adrenaline rise. My body responded to it, my fangs coming out accidentally and cutting her lower lip, making her hiss with pain, and I pulled away quickly, only then tasting the blood.

It was intoxicating, sweet and strong and made my whole body tingle, making me exhale a shaking breath. I looked at her for a moment, then putting my hand on the back of her head, kissed her passionately. It was the first time my fangs were fully out intentionally during a kiss, and her blood mixed in it, making me moan whenever I swallowed, making me lose myself in her taste and smell in a way I’ve never done before.

I found myself on my back, still kissing her, with her hand between my legs, touching me, making me feel lightning bolts spreading through my body, and then leaving me warm, I until I let out a scream of ecstasy.

As I struggled to catch my breath, she was lying beside me, tracing the dark veins around my eyes.

“Beautiful,” she mumbled, and then when she saw that I heard, she blushed and smiled, pecked me on the lips then rested her head on my flat chest.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” she whispered.

My heart skipped a beat, and I gently wrapped her around in my arms, unable to find a reply.

Curled up like that on my bed, we fell asleep.

Stage lights shining bright on me used to make me sweat, but now were merely a visual nuisance.

Mind focused on the dance, I followed the routine like all the nights before, right foot, leap, spin, turn around and act to the male dancer, Peter, as if I love him, let him throw me up in a spin, landing gracefully and turning away.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I smelt fresh blood.

I turned around just like every other night to face Peter again, and to my shock saw him bleeding heavily. Someone shot him in the shoulder, and I haven’t eaten that day.

People were screaming and running, but I didn’t hear any of it, my whole mind was focused on the blood. The smell was so strong and inviting, my fangs automatically came out, and I started to make my way to him, slowly. He looked up and saw me, his pupils widened, and I could smell the fear in him, the shock.

I wanted it. I was hungry for it. I couldn’t help myself.

I pounced on him, biting him in the juicy muscle between his neck and his shoulder, not too far from where he was shot. Since I was drinking faster than usual, and he was already bleeding beforehand, he lost consciousness pretty quickly, collapsing in my arms.

_Flash_!

Bright light surprised me, shocking me into letting Peter go, and back into focus.

Someone just took a picture of me.

People were screaming, running away, but a couple burly men were making their way towards me, one of them holding a gun, another holding a wooden stake and a silver dagger. There was a third men that stood behind them, holding the camera, and he was rearing to take another picture.

I growled, not sure what to do, but when the man fired the gun in my direction I found it easy enough to avoid his shot. I decided to run away, but after taking two steps I had to stop, feeling too dizzy to continue, and when I looked back at the hunters the whole world was spinning.

They were grinning.

I fell to one knee, trying hard to get up, clenching my fist, but everything was going fuzzy and my body wasn’t listening.

I was shot in the stomach, the bullet making it’s way through me, and I screamed in pain, falling onto my hands and knees. The wound burnt like fire.

A bright flash indicated another picture of me was taken, and howling in pain I was about to get up again when the man with the dagger cut my throat.

It wasn’t deep, but it burnt even worse than the bullet whole, and this time all I could do was gurgle in pain.

I was bleeding heavily from both wounds, and within seconds I fell forwards into a pool of my own blood.


	5. Chapter 4

It’s been almost eight months since Lilibet moved into Forty Hall, and she loved it there.

She got into the pattern of things smoothly, was welcomed warmly by everyone, and felt at home instantly. True it took her a while to wrap her head around the whole vampire thing, but it was surprisingly easy to get used to here, when everyone treated it like any other law of nature.

At first Rea didn’t come that much, only came every week or so, mostly because Lilibet wouldn’t have handled loosing more blood, and Rea was still obviously struggling to control herself.

Lilibet remembered crying once, questioning why she came here, confused about the strangeness of it all, after Rea almost killed her for a forth time. She remembered how Frannie hugged her, how they talked about it, realising that she had no way to run now. But then Rea came to check on her the next day, and her worries were gone.

There was something very bizarre about her connection to Rea. At the beginning she came because of a crush, because of seeing her friend in need. But then she stayed because of something different, something she couldn’t entirely explain. Louisa called it an addiction, but Lili felt it was more of a bondage, as if she was bound to Rea beyond control, so that if Rea simply asked, she would die for her, at Rea’s own hand. And somehow it was worth it, because every time Rea was close she felt safe, and every time Rea bit her, Lilibet found herself in ecstasy.

Since moving into this new life, she never wanted to go back into town, into feeling like a servant to an ungrateful man who beat her. Here she was safe to a degree, and she felt valued.

Most importantly, Lilibet felt loved.

She was washing laundry outside in the evening air, when she heard an ear piercing scream from indoors.

In all her time here, Llii never heard a scream like that. It was full of sorrow, and raw anger.

Leaving the laundry, she ran inside to see what had happened, and found Noelle being held by both Jerold and Maeve, crimson tears running down her face as she was screaming.

“Let me go! I need to find her!”

“My love, please, you know you can’t.” Jerold looked sad, and he then spotted Lilibet, and something in his eyes made her turn around and leave immediately.

“She’s still alive, I know it! Let go of me!” She heard Noelle scream as she ran to the kitchen to find everyone standing around something. When they saw she came in, Louisa quietly gave Lilibet a newspaper.

On the front page was a large picture under the title “VAMPIRES: NO LONGER A MYTH”.

The black and white picture was of Rea.

In her ballet costume, the veins around her closed eyes dark, Rea was seen holding onto her unconscious co-star, her teeth fully sunk into the part between his neck and shoulder, blood soaking his costume.

Underneath it, under some text that Lili could not read beyond tears, there was a smaller picture of Rea, on her knees, held up by her hair, with a wound through her stomach, and her throat slit.

Lili started shaking, tears obscuring her vision completely. Someone caught her mid fall, sitting her down on a chair.

“Lili, breath,” she could hear a voice, but not make out who was talking.

“Lilibet!” a voice so strong made Lili raise her head, and she saw Maeve standing above her, and then hug her tightly.

“Is… is she dead?” Lili gasped through her tears to ask that question.

“I hope she is… for her sake…” Maeve’s voice broke.


	6. Chapter V

I have spent years studying vampires, trying to understand their biology, and how it differentiate from humans. In the last three years I made little headway, since all I could get was a little bit of dead samples.

Now finally, I had an actual live specimen.

It has been known for years in the hunter community that vampires responded to Aconite, or more commonly known as wolf’s bane, such that it weakened them, softened their skin to human level, and overall made them lethargic and easy to deal with. My biggest achievement was making metal infused with Aconite, so that it could easily pierce vampire flesh, and did not need to be dipped in Aconite before use or re-use. It also meant that I could make machinery affective against vampires.

I always wondered why it was specifically wolf’s bane, rather than any other poisonous plant or flower, that vampires were weak to, but I did not question it too much, instead focusing on advancing technology and science further against the creatures.

“Oscar!” I raised my head in response to my name, seeing Stuart pop his head into my study.

He was the most handsome man I knew, tanned, with dark hair and piercing brown eyes.

He was the love of my life.

“Stu!” I smiled, motioning him to come in, and he did, hugging me tight. He always made me feel so pretty, ruffling my white blond hair, and I could see my light blue eyes reflect in his. I was always much paler than him, hiding in doors, studying, while he was running around, endangering himself while hunting vampires.

He was the reason I learned about them in the first place, ten years ago.

He was very slightly shorter than me, so I looked down and kissed him, but he pushed me away after a moment.

“You know we can’t here…”

“Come on, this is my office, no one will see,” I said, slightly agitated, it wasn’t as if we were a secret, everyone knew we were together by now, but still he struggled when we weren’t at home alone to show affection.

He sighed, shaking his head, “You know it affects me more than it does you.”

I nodded, closing my eyes, “yeah, I’m sorry,” I said, and sneaked a kiss on his cheek before sitting back down at my table.

“So what are you here for?”

“Well I wondered if you got anything out of _it_ yet.”

“You mean the female? No, she hasn’t properly awoken yet, why?”

“Well, everyone wants to go and ambush its known home, since we suspect it’s probably a vampire lair, but until you and Bran get to question it we won’t risk it,” he said, looking around, avoiding my gaze, playing around with my instruments, though skilfully avoiding the active steam valves.

“You mean they’re trying to send you in blind again?” I was fuming. They always did this to Stu, putting him in the most dangerous situations, as if they wanted to risk his life on purpose. But he never cared, he was always too… dedicated to the cause.

“Oscar…” he said gently, walking to me, “come on, let’s not fight over this again,” he took my skeletal hand in his strong ones.

I was about to burst, angry at his constant will to risk himself stupidly. He was even part of the team that went to catch this vampire in the first place. But before I could reply the door was pushed open, and Doctor Bran Spike, my colleague, ran in.

Stu quickly let go of my hand, but Bran ignored him anyway, “Oscar! Come quickly, she’s woken up, we can start now!” He was excited, almost jumping on the spot.

“Right, I’ll be right there. Just start preparing the electrodes,” I said, getting up. Bran looked back and forth between me and Stu, nodded, and left.

“I’ll see you later at home, okay?” I said, trying to calm myself down as I walked down, leaving Stu in my study alone.

Mine and Bran’s job, as doctors, was to find a way to control vampires. Find out what we can do as meek humans to make this superior race succumb, either by dying or not. The plan was simple, connect the vampire’s brain, read it, understand it well enough, then take over it.

When I arrived in the lab the vampire was chained to the as we left her, with a brace on her wrists, upper arm, two on her body, one on each thigh and ankle, one on the neck and forehead. We were not taking any chances, so there were also two trained hunters in the room at all times, and she was connected to a very small drip of Aconite to keep her weak. She was awake now, looking around, groggy.

I wanted so bad to try my new inventions on her brain, but we had to take it slow. So Bran simply attached the iron helmet to her head, so we can get a vague idea before getting more intimate with her brain.

I sat in front of the chrome screens, and Bran was the hands on, while Craig, the head of this hunter organisation, was the interrogator.

None of us knew it yet, but that was the beginning of something bigger than any of us. It was the beginning of the revolution of humanity against the vampires.


	7. Chapter 6

I woke up in overwhelming pain everywhere. When I finally opened my eyes, I was blinded by a strong electric light above me. I was lying down, completely pinned down to a metallic bed, or table, unable to move anything more than an inch.

I was so hungry it made me feel sick, and I could smell the humans around me, but somehow the metal that chained me down hurt me, and it felt too strong for me to break, so I could do nothing to get the blood I was desperate for.

“Please, can you tell us your name?” a male voice came, and I now noticed him standing next to my head, looking down at me with a stone-cold face.

“Wh..where am I?”

“I’m going to ask you again, what’s your name?”

I remembered suddenly what happened, the hunters… my throat.

“Where am I?” I asked again, gritting my teeth and trying to get out of my bonds.

“Fine, if this is how you want to play it,” the hunter said, and nodded to someone I couldn’t see.

Someone walked up to me, and without warning, stabbed a knife just above my knee.

I screamed from the pain and the burn, clawing, trying to get out.

“What is your name?” the hunter asked again, slowly.

“Rea! Rea Horton!”

“Rea Horton… Is that all?” He asked, and someone twisted the knife in my leg, making me almost choke.

“Yes! Yes!”

“Then how come you started to go by Rea Lyne about two years ago?” he asked, “see? There is no use lying to me.”

“Please stop, Please!” I cried from the pain, squirming, trying to get away.

Whoever it was took the knife out of my leg, and I sighed in relief, even though the pain was still throbbing all the way to my stomach.

“So how long have you been a vampire, Rea?”

“T…Two years… more or less.”

“Who turned you into a vampire?”

I stopped moving.

They’ll go and hunt my family. That’s why they caught me… they want to kill everyone.

If I give up their names, I might as well have given up their lives.

“Do I need to ask again?” he warned, but I bit my lips shut. I won’t give my mother up. I won’t give any of my family up.

Again he nodded, and someone came, stabbing me just under the other knee this time, making me shriek. But I didn’t say their names. They twisted the knife, and I still said nothing. After what seemed like way too long, they stopped, taking the knife out.

“Doctors, if I leave her to you, how long will it be until I have what I need?”

“With the funding you promised, it should be days.”

“Well then, you’ll have your funding,” the hunter said, and left my bedside.

I cried there in pain while someone cleaned my wound, and then I saw a blond skinny man stand above me, his scary bright blue eyes seeming emotionless as he took a pair of scissors and started to cut my hair off.

“Wh..what are you doing?” I managed to ask as my wound slowly healed.

He ignored me, simply cutting my hair as close to my scalp as he could. He ignored my cries of pain as he accidentally cut my scalp again and again, and when he took an open razor and recklessly shaved me head until I was as bald as can be. It took minutes until my scalp healed and stopped bleeding, but no one seemed to care.

The blond doctor and the dark haired one worked around me, talking to each about things I couldn’t understand like electromagnetic waves and brain patters. Half of it sounded like gibberish. They took little pins with metal disks on them and connected — stabbed — them all over me: all around my scalp, on my face, my neck, my arms, my legs, a couple around my heart and at the bottom of my feet. I noticed how naked I was, how exposed I was to their probing, but there was nothing I could do, I couldn’t move… I couldn’t even think clearly, it was as if I had a heavy cloud over my brain.

Now that it was quiet I noticed when the machines were turned on, hearing the hiss of steam and the buzz of electricity.

The dark haired doctor, who I concluded was called Bran, stood next to me, “You ready Oscar?” he said to the other doctor, and then he took a scalpel and slowly, surgically, made a small cut on the bottom of me feet.

It didn’t hurt much, just burnt, and he went on to make these inch long cuts all over my body. When he was done, and I was close to fainting, the other doctor, Oscar, came over with a small cup of human blood and let me drink it. I was so hungry, and it was so little, but it was still so good, even cold from a glass cup. Only after I drank it I realised the reason they gave it to me was to keep me awake, and I wished I could have refused it. But I knew I stood no chance: if blood was offered to me I would take it, even if it meant being awake through more torture.

Then, for some reason I couldn’t understand, the blond doctor sat next to my bed, and started talking to me for the first time.

“So, Rea right?”

I tried to ignore him, looking away.

“How old are you?” He continued, but I was determined.

He sighed, “Listen, Rea, I don’t want to hurt you, but if you want to avoid pain, I need you to cooperate and talk to me, the easier it is for us to calibrate, the less pain you’ll need to suffer.”

I shook my head as much as I could, “I’m not giving you anything.”

“Please, can you just imagine your loved ones, the ones waiting for you at home,” he paused for a bit, and I found myself imagining Lilibet and Maeve, Noelle and Jerold without intending to, “now imagine them dead, in pain, tortured, in even worse position than you are in now,” he paused again and stood up, “if you help us you can save them from it all.”


	8. Chapter VII

The project was not as easy to start as I expected.

I thought it would only take us a day to calibrate things, so we could start working inside the brain, but she was not… helpful.

Moreover, her screams were more human than I expected, her pain more real, affecting my judgement, implying that I should pause. If it wasn’t for Bran I would have been much softer on her, but he reminded me of her nature, and kept us going with the experiments.

It was now the second morning, when we hoped things would start getting deeper.

We adjusted her so that she sat up, her legs stretched in front of her.

“Good morning, are you ready to help us today?” I asked, sitting on the chair in front of her, crossing my legs. Bran was behind the computers, recording her brain functions as I asked different questions, and as I recorded her physical reaction (what I could see).

She bit her lip, looking around the laboratory, unsure.

“Let’s start again, I’m Doctor McCoy, this is Doctor Spike, do you have any clue what we’re doing?”

She shook her head, the wires connected around her body shaking with her.

She seemed so young…

“Well, we’re investigating your brain, your biology, trying to understand it, see, we’re furthering science, wanting to understand the difference between humans and vampires,” I paused, trying to gauge her reaction, “It’s a noble cause that you’re helping here,” I added.

She looked away, what seemed like fear and pain showing in her face, and I recorded it.

“So, Rea, please, tell us your age for the record.”

She looked down, a little defeated, “I’m now twenty one.”

“So you were turned into a vampire at nineteen years?”

“Yes.”

“By who?”

Silence.

Fine, if you want to play it difficult.

“Why did you become a vampire?”

This caught her by surprise.

“I… I wanted to be able to keep dancing… to keep walking…”

“Please elaborate.”

“I had some sort of disease, it started small, but got to a point I could barley walk due to tremors all over my body,” I exchanged looks with Bran, this was something to check for if it still existed in her body, “but then I became a vampire and it was gone, I could do everything again.”

“Interesting… so the reason was your profession?”

“No… dancing is more than just my job,” she seemed defensive. Good, we want to record all emotions.

“Right, and how many people have you killed in your time as a vampire?”

She blinked in surprise.

“Miss, please answer the question,” I said harshly, agitated to now get on to the next stage… we were so close to having enough.

“Fifty Eight.”

Of course, why did I expect any different.

I got up, walking to Bran, “go ahead,” I said, sitting in my seat as he stood up, picking up several spikes and a scalpel.

I watched as he tied a padded wooden ball into her mouth, and as he took a spike of the Aconite metal (with thick gloves) and drove it into her shoulder.

She screamed, but the noise was much easier to deal with now that it was muffled, and I concentrated on the data coming out of her as he drove a spike through the other shoulder, then through just under her rib cage, then through each of her knees and ankles.

Her face was covered with her own blood from her tears, but the noise of her cries was incessant, slowly giving me a headache. I was impressed she didn’t lose consciousness, with the amount of pain I was reading off her.

“Bran that’s enough,” I said just before he was about to drive another spike through her torso, “I think I have what I need.”

He nodded, though he seemed unhappy about it, and started to take the spikes out, then at the end, as planned, he gave her one litre of blood, and I watched the screens carefully for her reaction.

Pleasure against pain, I had everything I needed. I knew where the brain signalled pain, where it felt satisfaction, fear. I knew where her auditory cues came in, where her visual ones where. 

I had all the data I needed to control her brain, but not enough to trust myself to do it accurately.

I knew there was a small chance I will destroy her brain in the process.

There was a knock on my door, and I called a reply without noticing, not even aware that the person came in until they stood right next to me.

“Oscar?”

I jumped in my seat, turning around to see Stuart looking at me with a worried expression.

“Stu! I’m sorry, I just have a lot of work to do, I’ll come in a minute,” I said, rubbing my burning eyes and turning back to my desk.

“Dear, it’s past midnight…” he said, turning my chair around completely to him, leaning in, his face close to mine.

“Please, can we just go home to bed?”

I sighed, remembering our fight the day before, and the fact that we never really resolved it.

I shouted at him, calling him irresponsible, sadistic, and he responded with ‘if you want to see a sadist just look in the mirror’, before storming out.

I put my hand on his perfect square face, “of course, my love, I’m sorry, just give me five minutes and I’ll meet you outside.”

He chuckled, “I know you better than that Oscar,” he said, getting up and leaning against the door, holding my coat in his hands, “you have five minutes, then I’m dragging you out by the ear if I have to.”

I smiled, rolling my eyes, and turned to finish the part I was working on, just connecting another scale onto the hair-thin chain of conducting Aconite-metal: slowly making a flexible, smart wire that can be any length it needs to be, splitting anywhere it needs too…

After all, it needed to go into a brain without damaging the tissue too much.

I was so engulfed in it that it took Stu’s tapping feet to remind me to stop before starting the next scale.

I sighed, left the work, and walked to Stuart, letting him put my coat on, and we walked in silence, side by side, but not hand in hand, through the darkness of London on our way home.

We have been together for over seven years, and lived together for over five, we were used to silence, it was one of the reason we survived being together for that long.

We were half way home, passing over a small bridge over the Themes when Stu stopped suddenly, that it took me a couple of steps to noticed.

I turned around in surprise, only to find him on one knee.

Eyes open wide, I stepped closer in shock, to see that he was indeed holding a simple shiny silver band.

“Oscar McCoy, the best man I ever known, will you be mine forever?”

Tears filled my eyes, and I practically collapsed onto my knees in front of him, nodding.

“Yes, yes, of course,” I said, laughing, and he was crying too as he put the aluminium band around my ring finger.

We kissed, sitting on the cold pavement, laughing at the taste of our tears.

“I love you, Stuart Boyle, I love you I love you I love you,” I laughed, kissing him all over his face, making him laugh, until he grabbed my face and kissed me deeply on my lips, making me melt into his arms.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: RAPE

**TW:RAPE**

The night was blissful, and somehow just as bad. It was when the doctors went away, I had time to recover, to heal, but it was also when I had time to be alone with my thoughts.

I was scared, I was scared they have already attacked Forty Hall, that everyone I loved was dead. But I was also scared for myself. In such a short time I experienced more pain than I ever had in my life, and I wished it to stop more than anything.

I closed my eyes, basking in the moon’s light, trying to calm myself down, but just when I was about to, the door was unlocked and the dark haired doctor, the one named Bran Spike, came in, locking the door behind himself. He grinned at me with an expression that sent chills down my spine, and arranged the table so that I was lying flat again.

He then did something that increased the burn in my veins, made me feel even weaker, only half awake, but still aware of what was happening as he undid the clasps around my body, leaving only the ones on my wrists and ankles.

Dazed, I felt him grab my right breast and squeeze it. It made me feel sick, but I could do nothing, barely move my head, as he pulled my hips all the way down to the end of the table.

The position hurt, my legs felt cramped as my hips were unnaturally between my ankles, and my arms were stretched beyond the point of comfort above my head. I groaned in pain, trying to move, but the wooden ball was still tied in place in my mouth, and the noise was barely heard, and I felt so weak, my whole body burning a little, I probably didn’t even move a muscle when I tried.

He chuckled, “I always wanted to do this, ruin a pretty creature like you,” he whispered, unclasping his trousers and letting them fall on the floor.

I gasped in pain as he shoved himself inside me, and as he thrust back and forth I felt myself shrink inside my own body, until I only occupied a tiny place inside my brain.

The body wasn’t mine anymore, I felt as if I was watching someone else from outside as I felt him moving faster and faster. When he finished inside me it felt like poison spreading, and I threw up inside my mouth, gagging at the blood, but unable to loose consciousness.

He stood there for what seemed like a year, sighing, inside me, infecting me deeper, before he finally left, putting his trousers back on.

I didn’t cry as he touched me, putting me back in the centre of the table and clasping me in again, I was too far away from it, but I stayed awake as he chained me, as he left, as I laid there for hours afterwards, feeling the sun come up, as if it burnt my skin.

I wished it burnt my skin, I wished it burn it all away, but instead the burning in my veins faded and I was even more awake then before.

I could still feel him ruin me.

I heard the door open, and I shrunk inside my skin, afraid. It was both of the doctors this time, they simply talked to each other quietly, unaware I could hear every word.

“I finished it, are we ready to test it?” The one named McCoy said.

“Are you sure it won’t… ruin the specimen?” Didn’t he know I was already ruined?

“No… but I have a feeling it won’t be long until we get others anyway…”

McCoy came over, undoing the clasp on my neck and head, and seemed surprise as I tried to move away from him weekly.

_Please don’t touch me…_

He used a leather strap to twist my neck sideways, so that I was staring at the wall, and then hold my head in that position.

I couldn’t see what they were doing, but I heard them fumble around, then I suddenly felt an acute burn on my neck and the base of my skull as one of them rubbed something into my skin.

Something cold, metal, was placed against my skin and around my neck, a collar, and I heard McCoy say from behind me, “Run it” before the borrowing started.

It felt like little burning metal worms were digging into my neck. They went around the top of my spine and made their way into my brain. — They borrowed into every part of me, —\ — making me see nothing but white, — \ -/— screaming without hearing a thing. —/ -\\- /— It was pain like no other as they found their way around, —\\-//- \— spreading like thin roots, — \\\ -/ - engulfing every space inside the skull—\\-/-\ / \ //\— - -

Slowly vision came back, as did hearing, until everything felt still… too still.

The leather strap was taken away from your head, and you moved your neck around, the collar tight, uncomfortable. Then the ball was taken from your mouth, and you tasted your blood, swallowing it.

“What’s your name?” the doctor asked, and you were confused why he needed to ask again.

“Rea…” you answered, looking around, trying to orient yourself again…

Something felt different.

“Rea what?”

“Rea Horton… no… Lyne…”

You heard them talk, but didn’t try to listen.

A loud click sound, and you found yourself turning towards it, alert and waiting for… a command?

Doctor McCoy pressed the clicker twice more, fast, and you found yourself going limp.

“You now belong to us, and you must obey every command we give, and every other fellow human. You are not allowed to leave the building or run away, you are not allowed to kill, or hurt anyone. You are not allowed to bite, and will only eat when given,” he paused for a second, “you already know that you must come when I click, but also when called by your name.” He looked behind for a second, but you were so focused on him you didn’t even see what he was looking at.

“And you must remember, here you are lower than a dog, you’re worse than a pet. You’re a… servant. Here to serve us and nothing else,” he then clicked twice again, and a surge of electricity went through your brain, making you whimper with pain. But it was short, and then it was gone, and you were awake and in control again.

“Should we test it?” you heard doctor Spike speak, and looked away.

“What do you have in mind?”

“See if she stays as she’s told… even when it pain…”

“You want to risk that?”

“We’ll have to risk unchaining her at some point.”

McCoy sighed, and walked closer to you, undoing each of your clasps except for the ones on your legs. You sat up, wanting to rip the rest of the chains off, to run away, but the second the thought came you felt unbearable pain in your head and in the whole of your body that made you shake until you gave the notion up.

Then Spike came, and you froze as he took a scalpel, “don’t you move a muscle,” he said, and as you found yourself obeying, he then slowly used the scalpel to skin your right leg from the knee down. Strip by strip.

You couldn’t even scream, the metal worms in your brain preventing you from doing anything at all.

You just had to sit there… as he left your leg raw.

“Bran that’s enough,” McCoy called, something in his voice that you couldn’t understand, “I think you’ve made your point.”

Spike sighed and put the scalpel away, “should we ask what Craig wants to know?”

“Go ahead.”

“So, Rea, who turned you into a vampire?”

You bit your lips shut as hard as you could, bearing the pain the surged through your whole body, making you want to answer. But you couldn’t… You couldn’t give your family up.

“Last chance, who turned you?”

You shook your head vigorously. _No! No! No!_

“You’re a dancer, right?” Spike asked, an evil grin creeping on to his face, and without any warning, he took a butcher knife, and with one big swing separated your skinned leg that started to heal from the rest of your body; just under the knee.

For a second you just stared, shocked, watching your leg bleed from the gap between your knee and the rest of your leg.

Then you screamed so loud you felt the world shaking, before the blood loss and pain got to you, and you gladly fainted.


	10. Chapter IX

_What the fuck just happened._

That’s all I could think as I stood in the laboratory, cleaning and bandaging Rea’s severed right leg again.

Bran was locked down in a different room, with two hunters on the door, after I called for help to restrain him.

He was going to take of another leg if I didn’t stop him…

_What the fuck…_

Craig was talking to him, trying to understand what happened, but to be honest I felt like no one but me put to it much thought… to them it didn’t matter if she died or not, even though they would prefer to know what they were facing in Forty Hall, where a vampire lair was suspected to be, they would rather go blind than to give her any sympathy.

_She just lost her damn leg… after several days of torture…_

I heard her cry enough.

I put some clothes on her, as there was no use now chaining her, I gave her an old shirt of mine and a skirt I found lying around. It wasn’t much, just some moth-eaten cloth, but at least she didn’t have to be naked anymore.

Again, not that anyone except me seemed to care.

I spent the last three days hearing her scream, cry, and beg. I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. I had to show her some respect… she managed to survive my experiment after all… one that I thought would surely kill her.

I also knew the only reason she was still alive was that she had some information, and that the second she gave it up no one would help me stop Bran from cutting her to pieces…

But for some reason, I didn’t want her to die.

She was so young…

If my invention worked as I intended, maybe I can convince Craig that she is useful, that vampires can be useful around. After all the best tool against a vampire was another vampire.

However now… without a leg… I wasn’t so sure that argument would help.

But maybe she can help me? Around the lab? Now that I can’t trust Bran anymore to not practically ruin everything and go insane… The fact that she would have to obey would… be useful. Furthermore maybe she could give me some insight into the vampire mind that I lack.

I sighed, shaking my head, there’s very little chance of that. At that moment I wasn’t even sure she was going to survive, for some reason her wound kept bleeding and wouldn’t heal as expected. 

_Probably due to the high level of Aconite still in her blood…_ I mused, and decided to remove the drip from her arm, avoiding to look to the corner of the room where the lower part of her leg was lying… still half skinned.

_What the fuck happened Bran?_

The door to the lab opened, letting in Craig, Stu and two other ‘field’ hunters, Holly and Ormond.

Craig inspected the lab, before approaching the vampire and looking at her state. I heard Holly and Ormond whisper something about the fact I dressed her.

“Will she talk now?” Craig was as cold as he always was. I hated the man, but there was nothing to do about the fact he was in charge.

“I think with a little more training she will…”

“You think? or you know?”

“General Desmond, what are you implying?” I took a stand closer to her. I will not let my experiment go down the drain. There were still so many things I wanted to know.

“She’s dying, and keeping her alive is causing tensions among the staff currently. I am asking you if there is an actual reason for supplying her with more blood.”

“Of course! The experiment only just begun! I believe it would have been much easier to get the information you’re after out of her if it weren’t for Bran’s… explosion… But this is bigger than that, don’t you see?” I saw all four faces staring at me, blank, “If what I did worked… which I can’t know without further testing, then we can change the whole face of this… war!” I was getting excited, “Imagine! Instead of simply killing vampires, we could capture them and use them for our own means! As slaves, as servants, as field workers, as weapons against their own kind! Can’t you see? It will revolutionise the way this whole organisation works!”

“Are you suggesting that the Royal Hunter Garrison should change its aim from extermination to capture? That’s a very… radical thing to say… doctor McCoy.” He was saying it as if he was spitting poison at my name.

“Yes… I think we can change the face of this country, now that we have exposed vampires, I think it’s time we conquer them entirely,” I paused, but no one said a thing, “and to do that, I need this vampire alive.”

Craig turned away without a word, and as he walked out he passed Stu, and said loudly, “You better talk some sense into your _boyfriend_ , before you both regret it.” He barked, and left, Holly and Ormond leaving behind him.

It was just me and Stuart, who’s face was now bright red.

“Stu…” I started, walking towards him, but he raised a hand to stop me.

“I told you, this affect me more than it does you.”

“I know… Stuart… Please, don’t you see what I’m saying?” I was standing right in front of him, pleading him, but careful not to touch him… he looked so embarrassed and angry it was scary, and if I didn’t know him as well as I did I would have not dared coming that close.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, his face slowly turning into his natural tanned colour.

“Are you saying this because you don’t want me to fight anymore?”

“No! Stuart no! I trust you to make your own decisions… you know that,” I took his hand automatically, “Please, Stu, I am serious, I think this can be a very important discovery… But if they kill her now I won’t get this opportunity again… but if they let me keep her I can prove it to everyone that we can do more than just kill vampires,” I was begging, tears filling my eyes.

He took his hand away from me, “You know what the general said before we came? He said that if you insisted, because of legality he couldn’t do anything,” he paused, taking in a shaking breath and looking away from me, “he said that if it came to it, the only blood you can give… your experiment… is from someone willing to donate,” he looked back at me, his eyes full of fear and sadness, “he said you’ll have to give it your own blood if you want to keep it.”

I blinked in surprise, taking a step back, “What?”

This time it was Stu who came to me, taking my face in his hands, “Please, Oscar, give this up, before it kills you… before it hurts us both.”

The aluminium ring on his finger was warm against my cheek, reminding me of the night before.

“I can’t.”

“Oscar…”

I opened my eyes, full of tears, “I’m sorry, I can’t give this up… this is bigger than me, and if I have to give a bit of my blood, then it’s just as well as I have given my sweat to it already,” I took a deep breath, putting my hands on his and taking them from my face, “Stuart, I have the chance to change the world… I need to see this through… Stu please, please, can you understand that?”

He squeezed my hands, and to my surprise, leaned in to kiss me, “of course I do, my love, of course I do…” he hugged me tightly, “Just please, please be careful.”

“I will say the same to you.”

We kissed a long, tearful kiss, knowing from now on things will only be more difficult for us.


	11. Chapter י

The whole staff of Forty Hall was called to a meeting.

“Right, now listen everyone, tomorrow most of you will be going to Eden Hall, the main residency of the Lyne family, for a gathering. Humphrey and I will stay here as usual to tend to the house, but the rest of you will be going up to cater for your vampire. I know that some of you, have never been there before, and the rest probably not for a long time, so I wanted to call you here to remind you the rules up there.” Louisa Peralta, the housekeeper and the oldest of the staff was not leaving any room for business and chitchat, and whenever some of the younger staff started to talk she gave them such a death stare they shut up immediately.

She still avoided looking at Lilibet.

“In Eden Hall it’s not like here, there, even though there are still about two humans for every vampire, our presence it much smaller, and much less respected. There humans keep to themselves unless approached by their vampire, and to do their duties around the house. You must address everyone with their full title and not by name, you call them my Lady or Sir, and you bow; not half assed like here. And you must be careful. They are not as polite as here, and if they take a fancy of you,” this time she did look at Lilibet, “they might decide to take you for themselves.” Louisa looked around everyone, one by one, before continuing, “so if you want to keep your lives I suggest you keep quiet.”

There was a gloomy silence in the kitchen for a long moment, before Louisa decided it was appropriate to go on, “As you know, Lady Noelle, Sir Jerold and miss Maeve have already left by foot for the lake district, due to recent events, so tomorrow morning you will make your way by two carriages. Norbert, you will take Lilibet and Frannie, and Shawn will go with Fiona. I suggest you all take everything important to you, as I do not know when or if you will return.”

Frannie raised her hand, “Louisa, will you and Humphrey join us later then?”

“I don’t know yet, dear, we will come if we will be called,” Louisa answered gently, then clapped her hands, “now get going you lot!”

Before Lilibet could leave, Louisa caught her and dragged her to a corner.

The house has been so tense ever since Rea was taken, everyone knew something was going to happen, so it was almost a relief when the vampires left to gather with the rest of their family up in Eden Hall.

Before they left, Maeve found Lilibet in her room, and they sat down together for a moment.

“What’s going to happen with me?” Lili asked the question that has been gnawing in her mind once everyone started treating Rea as dead.

“Well… I don’t really know… this has never happened before in my lifetime,” Maeve answered sadly. They were both heartbroken.

“I can try and take you as mine… but I’d need mother’s approval, and she might prefer to take you herself or,” she paused, looking away, “kill you, to be rid of her memory.”

Lili shuddered. She was heartbroken, but she wasn’t ready to die.

“How likely is she to… approve?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Listen, you need to keep your head down over there,” Louisa said quietly, harshly.

“I know, I know.”

“Take this with you,” she handed Lili a necklace with vial of clear liquid, “It’s full of wolf’s bane, it’s very very poisonous and if you ingest it you will die, but on your skin it will only make you mildly ill and give you a horrible rash… and it’s the only thing that will keep them away…” she sighed, “if you feel in danger, you pour it on them it will burn their skin worse than yours, and it will make them stop… but don’t use it hastily because they might not forgive you for doing it.”

“Why… why are you giving it to me?”

“You’re too young, and I won’t be there to protect you,” she said honestly, and closed Lili’s hand around the vial of wolf’s bane, “just be careful,” she nodded and left to get on with her work, leaving Lilibet to stand, surprised at the show of affection and worry.

It reminded Lilibet why she was here, why she loved living at Forty Hall.

It reminded her of Rea, until she found herself in her bed, crying herself to sleep one again.

The journey up to Eden Hall took three days, with the horses walking in quite a quick pace, but not running, only stopping for short breaks or for camp at night.

They didn’t take the main roads, instead taking side ones, stopping in the trees, avoiding any pubs or inns. Lilibet didn’t understand why, but she followed silently, not questioning the wiser.

When they arrived in Eden Hall there was no welcome, they simply made their way through all the out-houses into the stables, making themselves at home as Norbert took the tired horses to the stables.

The house was almost four times bigger than Forty Hall, and it was by far the biggest Lilibet ever seen in her life. It was made of white stone, standing four stories tall, looming in the country side view.

Once they arrived in the stables some staff came out to help them unload.

“Welcome! So glad you arrived, we’ve been drowning here!” laughed a young looking, blond maid, as she took Lilibet’s bags and started to lead her inside.

“I’m Mea, Venessa’s coffer, nice to meet you! and you are?” she chatter cheerfully as she lead Lilibet through the side door and into the staff courters in the attic.

“Oh, nice to meet you Mea,” Lilibet said quietly, scared to her bones, “I’m Lilibet, I’m… uh…” she felt tears feel her eyes again. _Oh Rea, please just come back._

“Yes?” Mea tried to keep Lili talking.

“I’m no one’s… I was miss Rea’s… but… she…” Lili choked on her tears, stopping mid step, dropped her bags, and tried to dry her eyes and stop her nose from running. She was so tired of crying.

Mea stopped, turned around, and put the bag she was carrying down, hurrying to Lilibet.

“Oh poor girl, shh, it’s all right,” she patter Lili’s head, and Lili noticed she waved someone who walked down the hall to go away, “come here, let’s settle you in,” she continued and led Lili into her new room, which was slightly smaller than her older one at Forty Hall, not that it mattered now, and sat Lili down on the bed.

Lilibet sat there as Mea took her bags one by one into the room, saying soft words of comfort, putting Lilibet’s things away as Lilibet kept crying until the tears dried out and she felt light-headed.

“Do you want to come down to the kitchen? meet everyone? have something to eat?” Mea rubbed Lilibet’s back, trying to be of comfort, but Lili didn’t know her, and the physical contact did not help.

“W…Would it be okay if I just… stay here for now?”

“Of course! come down whenever you’re ready,” Mea smiled, but it was sad, and she left Lilibet finally to herself.

She laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to make sense of everything that has happened in the last week.

Rea was gone, most probably dead, and Lilibet’s fate was looking just as bad. Either a different vampire from the family will decide to keep her as a coffer (the thought of which made Lilibet feel sick), or one of them will kill her. She didn’t like either option. Being someone else’s coffer felt wrong, she was so close to Rea, and what they had felt so special, it felt like if another vampire will bite her it will be like… cheating. It felt dirty and wrong. But dying didn’t seem any more appealing. Even with all her love for Rea, she was still her own, and still wanted to live.

_I just have to be careful…_ Lilibet thought as she fell asleep in what she didn’t know was to be her knew home.

_I just have to be careful… but appealing…_


	12. Chapter 11

You woke up to the smell of fresh blood, which made you alert, the hunger in you taking over. When you opened your eyes it took less than a millisecond for you to focus on the source: Doctor McCoy had cut his wrist, and was dripping blood into a bowl.

Instinctively, you pushed yourself up, trying to get to him, wanting to eat so bad the pain throughout your body didn’t matter.

But you found yourself on the floor.

The force from hitting the ground shook you out of your hungry haze, and you slowly realised again where you were, and why you were in pain… and why you were on the floor instead of running at your prey.

_You are not allowed to bite, and will only eat when given…_ The words rang in your mind, and you looked back up at the blood dripping, your mouth filling with saliva.

_Not allowed!_

Growling from the pain in your head, and the frustration of hunger, you pushed yourself to sitting, and froze when you saw your legs.

You stared as you felt you were wiggling your right leg’s toes, even though there was nothing there.

There as nothing there.

From the knee down, your leg was gone, even though it felt as though it was still attached.

The smell told you exactly where the missing part was, and before you could help it you ended up throwing up, making a small puddle of thick blood next to you.

_It can’t be._

“Oh dear!” McCoy exclaimed, and came to you, lifting you back onto the table.

You wanted to bad to bite… but you couldn’t move in that direction.

Once you were lying on the table, dizzy and in pain, your knee throbbing where it started to bleed again, McCoy pressed the bowl of his own blood to your lips, and he let you gulp the little amount he took out of himself in two sips.

Images of someone else, a muscular tanned man, came to your head, with them intense feelings of love, and the name-

“Stuart?” you gasped, sighing the name out once you swallowed the last drop, almost unable to breath under the intense feelings that came with the blood.

“Excuse me?” Oscar blinked in shock, putting the bowl away and tying the bandage around his wrist tighter, “What did you say?”

“Who’s Stuart?” you asked, wiping your mouth and licking your lips. Even with the little amount he gave you, you already felt stronger.

“How do you know that name?” he seemed truly scared at your insight. Did he not know?

“Your blood…” you said quietly, suddenly scared he will hurt you, “Please, Rea didn’t mean to,” you cowered, retreating away from him.

“What?” he stared, hands hanging at his sides.

You weren’t sure what he was asking anymore, so you just curled up into a ball, waiting for punishment.

“Did you say you… found out from my blood? How?”

“Fresh blood brings fresh memories… fresh thoughts…” you whispered, scared he won’t like what you were saying, but he simply sat down on a chair next to the table, looking at you with glistening eyes.

“You… saw my memories? From my blood?” he asked, and you nodded, slowly turning back towards him, “That’s amazing!” he laughed, and to your surprise he opened the bandage on his wrist again, this time offering you his arm.

_Is he serious?_ you thought, _but I’m not allowed…_

“Here, take one sip, and tell me exactly what you see.” He was serious after all.

Hesitantly, you obeyed, taking his arm and biting where his wound was still open. It was so sweet, warm and refreshing you almost lost yourself in his blood, but a pain in your head made you stop after one long sip, forcing you to let go of his arm before you started shaking from the pain. You took extra care to note the images that came with the blood this time, and when you swallowed, licking your lips, you told him what you got.

“Rea saw when you were carried by Stuart, after he rescued you from a vampire, how he gave you some of his blood in the infirmary, and when you woke up he was the first thing you saw.”

Oscar’s jaw might as well have dropped to the floor.

After a moment of shock, he burst to his feet and run to the closest desk, picking up a notepad and jotting things down as he made his way to the door, and then he was gone without a word.

You sat there, waiting, dreading for anyone to come in, but the day went by with nothing happening. You slowly felt better, with a clearer head, your leg stopped bleeding and had healed completely by the time the sun came down, the stump looking as if it was always there.

You didn’t dare move, and you definitely didn’t dare to try and walk again, the fear of how it might feel on one leg worse than the fear of the pain of hitting the ground.

Part of you started to wish you were dead.

Suddenly the door opened, and Oscar burst back in, walking quickly to you with several small vials of blood in his hands. 

He put them down on the table in a little stand, and you saw that each was labeled. Without much warning he turned and handed you one, “Drink it and tell me what you see.” He ordered.

Confused, you obeyed, downing the vial.

“Your father’s funeral, your mother crying…”

He jotted what you said down, and handed you another vial, mumbling to himself.

“The first time you and Stuart kissed… in his room in the middle of the night,” you blushed from the emotion conveyed in that memory.

Oscar blushed too, and handed you another one.

“Um… Rea isn’t sure, mostly just the word door and an image of your study door?”

Oscar nodded, grinning, “It was what I was thinking while draining that one,” he said, writing it down and handed you the last vial.

“Oh,” you said once you swallowed.

“What? what did you get?”

“You… drowned…”

“What? I was keeping my mind blank as I did that one…” Oscar mumbled, writing down, “Keep going.”

“You… you were drowning… you thought you died…” you shivered, hugging yourself. The feeling of that memory was so cold and scared, it took you a while to come back to the present.

“Huh… I don’t remember that…”

“You were very small…”

You both looked into each other’s eyes, him into your green ones, you into his blue ones, and for a second you felt something you couldn’t explain. It wasn’t love or fear, it was simply… intimacy.

He coughed, turning away, picking his notebook up, “well, um, get some, um, rest,” he mumbled, looking everywhere except at you, “I’ll see you in the morning,” he added as he made his escape from the room.

You heard it lock behind him, reminding you that you were nothing more than a prisoner, a mere lab rat.

Close to dawn, when the comfort of the night was fading, your heard the door unlock, and before he even came in you knew who it was.

You had to get away. Even though he was at the only exit, you _had_ to get away.

Pushing yourself to standing you glimpsed Bran Spike’s figure before turning around, trying to hop away in the opposite direction from him. But two steps in your body forgot you were missing a leg, too focused on getting away, that you fell flat on your face on the cold stone. Still terrified to the bone, you started to crawl away, dragging yourself along the floor with your nails and your one whole leg.

He laughed, grabbing you by your left (your only) ankle and pulling you back to the middle of the room, to the one spot where the sun was starting to shine.

“Because of you bitch they’re sending me away,” he said, flipping you over onto your back, and when you started to struggle he barked at you to keep still, and your body obeyed against your will.

“You little leech, you’re going to regret ever existing,” he snarled through his teeth as he unbuckled his trousers, pushing your skirt up.

You whimpered, “please, get off, please,” but you didn’t cry.

“Shut the fuck up,” he barked, you obeyed, and he grinned, “that’s it, heed your master,” he said as he—

You were lying on the floor, hugging your knees, the sun making your skin uncomfortably warm.

There was blood between your legs and on your thighs, but you couldn’t remember why. You didn’t dare move, so much so that even when the door unlocked you barely noticed, only when Oscar ran to you, his smell waking you a little, that you blinked your eyes open.

“Rea? Rea?” He shook your shoulders, making you turn from your foetal position, and you grumbled, pulling away a little.

_Please don’t make Rea move…_

He pulled you to sit up, leaning you against one of the legs of the table, “Rea what happened?” he asked, and then noticed the blood on you, on the floor, “Shit… are you okay?” He looked around, confused, agitated.

“What did you do?” He was angry at you, you knew it, and he was going to hurt you for it, of course he was, that’s what men do.

“Rea, how did this happen?” he asked again, leaving you and walking around the lab, trying to see if you moved any of the equipment, and when you still kept quiet he turned around, “Answer me!” His tone not angry… more… worried?

“I… I don’t know…”

‘ _Don’t you tell anyone of this. This is our little secret’_

“I can’t remember,” you added, shaking your head, trying to stop yourself from remembering.

Oscar sighed, wiping his face with his hand, “can you get on the table?”

You nodded, confused at the question, and he shook his head, “I mean, please get back on the table.”

You pulled yourself up, surprised at the ease you moved, and laid yourself down on your back on the table.

“Take your clothes off for me, I need to examine you, see what happened,” he said, and you did, not even caring that you were naked in front of him now.

He looked you over, and then started to move your arms, trying to see every bit of you, and you let him without protest. Until he tried to move your legs apart, and you flinched.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to look, please,” Oscar was gentle, again moving your legs apart to look at your thighs and everything else.

“Damnit, you already healed… can’t see a thing,” he sighed, letting you go, “Are you sure you can’t remember?”

You shook your head vigorously. You _shouldn’t_ remember.

“Well, never mind then,” he sounded defeated, and turned away, picking a pile he dropped by the door, “here you go, I got you some proper clothes,” he handed it to you, and you saw it was a dark brown blouse and skirt, simple, like a farm girl. There were also stockings and a jacket, but you didn’t see the point in those: you only had one leg, and you were never cold.

“I’ll let you clean yourself and put those on now, then we can have a little chat once I’m back.”

“A chat?”

“What to do about that leg of yours,” he said, but did not let you ask more as he walked out, double locking the door as he left.


	13. Chapter XII

Things were only getting stranger.

I only found out yesterday that when vampires drink blood they get memories or the immediate thoughts of the person they were eating, and that for some reason whatever happened with the installation of the collar it made my specimen start to refer to herself in third person, by name.

And now this.

I got to the lab this morning and she was on the floor, practically covered with her own blood, and without any trace on her body of what had happened.

Had she tried to kill herself, blacked out and forgot about it? She didn’t do anything around the room, so it didn’t seem that she tried very hard if that’s what she did…

I had a plan to give her a prosthesis, and since she was a vampire and healed so fast I could experiment, try different things, not just the normal wooden stilt. But I wasn’t so sure I should start today, now that I suspected something was wrong with the collar.

I was a doctor, I was not a psychiatrist, and I started to suspect I needed one in order to fully understand the case I was facing.

The problem was, the only psychiatrist I knew was Eugene Lavoie, and he hated my guts.

But now that vampires were public, I hoped that I would get permission to get him on this case, finally telling him about the true nature of my research.

Gritting my teeth I sat down to write him a letter.

‘Dear Doctor Lavoie, ( _he wasn’t a real doctor if you asked me)_

I am writing to ask for your help on my latest subject who is exhibiting behaviours beyond my medical understanding. She is a vampire who I have recently installed with my prototype of breakthrough technology that will let humans control vampires, however since it is in the brain I fear I might have done some damage beyond repair to her psyche. 

Please could you come and assess her, we are located in the laboratories on Redcross Way, it is easy enough to locate.

Your old friend,

Doctor Oscar McCoy.’

I signed it, and gave it with a twopence to a boy who would run and it to Eugene. I then collected myself and made my way to Craig’s office… I needed to ask him to give me a room for her, and I knew he would disapprove of the idea. I knocked on his door and he called me in. 

General Craig Desmond, the head for the Royal Hunter Garrison, was a towering man in his fifties, with salt-pepper hair and a heart of stone. He was in front of his desk, next to him stood Colonel Zachary Dreyer, his right hand man, a sniper by nature.

“Good morning General, Colonel,” I bowed my head.

“Morning Doctor, what can I do for you?” Craig said, impatient as usual. If it was up to him he would have fired me long ago. Good thing it wasn’t up to him.

“Well, since you asked,” I held back a smirk, sitting myself down in front of him, “I need a secure room, a cell of sorts, to keep… my experiment in. I can’t keep her in the lab any longer, I need it for other things, it isn’t secure enough now that she’s unchained, especially with all the… sharp things around.”

“The vampire’s unchained?” Zachary gasped, looking at me as if I set the devil himself loose.

“Yes, my experiment seems successful so far as that she listens to orders, but I still have many tests to run on her, and I can’t leave her free in the lab every night. She needs a room.”

“You want us to house a vampire?” Craig could have cut the air with his words, and I leaned forward, unafraid.

“I want to conduct my experiments on the vampire so that maybe one day, hopefully not too far away, we could house vampires as servants,” I paused, leaning back, “I took your advice, I used my own blood to feed her, and I made quite extraordinary discoveries already,” I smirked, “that I’m sure the prince would love to hear all about.”

Zachary was easier to read than Craig, and the way his eyes opened wide told me loud and clear I had made the right threat.

Calculated, this time Craig leaned forward on his table, “I will give you what you want, all the funding and resources you desire, but on the condition that when you give your report to the prince, my name will be on there right next to yours.”

I full on smiled, stretching out my hand to him, “We have a deal.”

By the end of the day I had everything I wanted. The study next to my own, one that used to belong to Bran, was emptied (I didn’t ask where he had gone) and I was given the key. I bought a bed and put it next to the wall, leaving the reading table in there but taking out everything else: leaving the room bare. At least it was safe.

The door wasn’t secured like I wanted, but it was just as good as the lab, so it made no difference anyway.

Only at five in the evening, when the sun started to set, did I manage to finally go back to the lab and visit Rea.

When I walked in she was sitting underneath the table, legs hugged tight to her chest. It seemed she was hiding from the sun… I should record that. She turned around when I closed the door behind me, scrambling to pull herself back on the table as if she was ashamed she was underneath it before.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked, and she looked at me with such childish confusion, like a little puppy.

“Hungry,” she answered finally after a long silence, and I saw how she looked towards my neck for a second, before flinching and looking away. It seems the coding I did was effective.

“Right, yes, about that,” I grabbed a chair, pulling it close to the table and sitting beside her, “I cannot ask anyone else to give you blood, now that I know you will gain some private thoughts with it, so you will have to do with what I can supply,” I crossed my arms on my chest, seeing how she responded, her face shifting slowly away from human as her eyes grew dark, giving her even more of an animalistic vibe, “I gave you plenty yesterday, so from now I will give you some every other day, only half a pint at a time.”

I paused for a second, a question coming to my mind, “are you more nourished drinking from a body, or does it make no difference if you drink it from a glass after it had been collected?” I asked, then quickly added, “tell the truth.”

“Rea doesn’t know,” she shrugged, “biting is what Rea was made to do…” she suddenly looked me in the eyes, “biting is healthier.”

“Healthier?” I raised an eyebrow, that was an… odd choice of words, and it seemed intentional.

She fiddled with her hands, looking down, then finally stretched her hand to me, wanting me to give her something, “can Rea show you? it’s easier to explain,” she motioned to my bandaged wrist, twitching from pain as she did so.

What was she playing at? no… she seemed too innocent, too ready to comply, to be able to play any games.

“Fine, but you know you are not allowed to hurt anyone,” I said slowly, taking the bandage off and giving her the scabbed cut from yesterday.

She shook her head, “not going to hurt at all,” she carefully took my arm, and I saw how much pain it caused her… I needed to change the coding.

“Rea, I’m an exception, you’re allowed to bite me,” I saw immediately the pain in her body fade, “you don’t need to worry,” I added, wanting the sentence to sound natural, and also genuinely wanting to reassure her.

She took my arm, and I stared as her fangs slowly extended, becoming long and sharp and threatening, but she used her front teeth to pick of the scab itself. The pain made me flinch, but she held me with unnatural strength, and to my surprise, she started to lick the open wound.

At first it just felt very strange, like a cat licking, but on her third stroke I started to notice something different. It stopped hurting, and a pleasant tingling spread up my arm, a warm subtle feeling slowly spreading in my veins. I could only compare it to opium, but it was more sensual than that.

She stopped, letting go of my arm, and I inspected it in my haze, staring at the wound that was now virtually gone.

“Healed it?” I heard myself asking, and she nodded, “bites are easy to close, and they give pleasure,” she explained, “but they are intimate, and create a bond that is hard to break after a while.”

With whatever it was that she drugged me with still in my system, my body screamed for more, but my rational brain was still intact.

“I will give you the blood by a glass.” I decided, still holding the wrist she just licked, and stood up. I could see the disappointment in her eyes.

I blinked several times, trying to get myself out of the state she put me in. Was she playing games? or was she seriously, innocently, trying to help?

I decided to check.

“Rea, tell me, who turned you into a vampire?”

Her face went whiter than it already was, and she grabbed her shaved head with both hands. She started squealing, tucking her head between her knees. The sound was so high pitch, loud and sudden that I stumbled away, covering my ears. She started crying blood tears, as I have seen her do many times before, except it seemed she wasn’t just crying. My hypothesis was supported by the blood that started to drip from her ears.

_Shit._

Still with my hands on my ears I walked back to her, wanting to tell her she can stop, but before I could she suddenly stopped. Her arms went limp, dropping next to her, and her bloodied head was hanging heavily.

She was mouthing something over and over again, eyes glassy, and she wasn’t looking at me, but as I got closer I finally heard her say it.

“Noelle Lyne,” it was so quiet I could have missed it, but she repeated it time after time that there was no room for mistaking.

“All right, all right, you can stop now, it’s okay, you did well,” I took the bandage that I left on the table and wiped her face, her eyes, her cheeks and neck from her blood, noticing it was much thinner than human blood, but too preoccupied to pay it much attention.

She slowly stopped repeating the name, and I laid her down on the table again, “you’re okay, it’s all right,” I repeated, and to my relief she closed her eyes, and fell unconscious.

I sighed, sitting back down on the chair, leaning my head against the table.

There were so many things I wanted to know, wanted to ask her, but I knew now that she was not stable enough to be able to give me clear answers. Were they right? Should I let her die? It felt fundamentally wrong, especially since I was the source of her breakdown. I felt like I already murdered her.

Thumping on the door took me out of my musings, and soon the door was kicked down, five men bursting in.

Stuart, in the lead, made his way to me, grabbing me and pulling me away from her, “What the hell happened?”

I let him hold me for a second, breathing in and out.

“Oscar? Oscar?!”

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” I shook my head, tapping his chest and pushing him away from me, “everything’s fine…”

“Oscar you’re crying!” He said, and I noticed the tears down my face for the first time, “Don’t you dare tell me everything’s fine!” Stuart was fuming.

I wiped my face “Well, it was loud,” was all I ended up saying.

“What happened?” Ormond interrupted, looking at Rea like she was a pile of gunpowder.

I took a second, trying to find a way of saying it that would make sense for everyone.

“I forced her to tell me who turned her into a vampire.”

The room went silent, everyone looking at me with anticipation.

I felt like I was betraying Rea somehow, but I turned to Stuart non-the-less, doing my duty as a soldier rather than my duty as a doctor.

“Tell the general that she named Noelle Lyne.”


	14. Chapter יג

The great dining hall of Eden Hall was fully seated. Octavia sat in her place at the head of the table, to her right, her mate, Venessa, to her left, her eldest daughter, Noelle. Next to Noelle sat her mate, Jerold, and then their children, by age: Inigo and Maeve. Next to Venessa sat her son, Bradley, and next to him sat Eva, Octavia’s baby daughter. This meant the ages around the table span all the way from 1039 to 183.

Lilibet sat across from Octavia on the other head of the table; waiting for her judgment.

“Welcome everyone, this is a sad occasion, but I am glad you are all now here safely,” Octavia spoke in her strong tone, making everyone around the table shush. She was the most vampire looking of them all, with her white pale skin, long, straight black hair and blue eyes so light it was uncomfortable to look at them.

“We all know why we’re here, and sadly it is my job to officially announce that Rea is no longer with us. She was captured and from now presumed dead.”

There was a long silence around the table as everyone lowered their heads, showing respect for their gone sibling. It felt so formal, so fake and out-worldly to Lilibet that she almost felt angry on Rea’s behalf.

“And now we must decide what to do next,” Octavia paused and looked around, and when no one spoke she continued, “I will not allow anyone to try and attack the hunter garrison, it is a suicide mission and will waste lives. Instead I want us to stay safe. We don’t know what they managed to twist out of Rea, so we have to be on the defensive. Therefore from tomorrow at sunset we will scatter. You all have individual safe houses, you know what to do.”

“You want us to run and hide? like rabbits?” a voice came from the door, and everyone turned to see a young looking man — no, vampire — with a plat of golden hair and grey eyes. He wore commoner’s clothes, dirty and torn, so out of place against all the formal clothing of the rest of the room.

“Sullivan,” Octavia said slowly, raising to her feet, “You were not invited.”

“My niece was just murdered and you did not think to invite me?” he walked towards the table, passing Lilibet while giving her such a hungry look it made her skin crawl, “this is a threat to me just like it is to you, mother.”

“You have made it clear long ago that you did not desire to be a part of this table, and now you try to force your way into it again? I think not.” Octavia’s eyes grew dark, her true form slowly showing, making her look even more threatening than she already was.

They stood face to face, mother and son, so close their noses were already touching. Both had their fangs out and they seemed to be growling at each other.

Suddenly they moved so fast, Lilibet’s eyes could not see. The whole room went into turmoil for a split second, then was still again. Now Venessa was held back by the children, and Octavia held Sullivan from behind, her teeth inches from his neck.

“You didn’t use to be a coward,” Lilibet heard Sullivan mutter, just before Octavia threw him forward so hard he was caught by Bradley and Noelle, and forced to his knees.

“This family did not thrive because of hot-headedness,” Octavia snarled, suddenly standing right in front of Sullivan and grabbed his neck, her nails digging into him, making little drops of blood fall to the floor, “it survived because of strong, calculated moves. And you have no right to question them.” She let go of him, and so did the rest, slowly backing away from him and letting him stand back up. But everyone was on their toes, ready to pounce again.

Lili wasn’t sure she should be there anymore.

Octavia took her seat again, and slowly everyone followed. Even Sullivan, wiping the blood from his neck with an angry grimace, his face returning to look human, slowly went and joined the table, sitting next to Eva. He was now as close to Lilibet as Maeve, and it made her rush with adrenaline.

“So, as I was saying, we will make sure we’re all safe. Me, Venessa and Eva will stay together, as will Noelle, Jerold and Maeve, and Bradley and Inigo will go on their own,” she paused, looking at Sullivan, “Unless you want to take care of Maeve for the next 30 years.”

Slowly, simply listening, Lilibet understood: Octavia was pairing the older ones with the younger ones, while also keeping partners together with their children, but not in groups larger than three. She was truly going on the defensive.

“Actually, I didn’t come here for nothing, this is still my family. I will take the little one with me.”

“Fine, the rendezvous is here in 30 years and a day,” Octavia slammed the table, shutting down any disputes and quietening everyone, “Now the real reason we’re gathered here is Rea’s coffer.”

Everyone turned to Lilibet, and she shrunk in her seat, terrified.

It has been almost two weeks since Rea was taken, and already the symptoms of withdrawal started: cold sweats and the like. Frannie even told Lili that if another vampire didn’t start eating from her within a month, she will most probably die from the withdrawal.

If she wasn’t killed first.

“I want to drain her. I want the memories of my child,” Noelle didn’t look at Lilibet as she said this, instead pleading to Octavia.

Suddenly everyone started talking over each other.

“Rea would not forgive you for that!” Maeve exclaimed, “She’s too young,” she heard Jerold, “It’s her right as her mother,” Venessa interrupted.

“Ahem!” Sullivan coughed, his base voice booing around the room, “may I suggest I take her as my own coffer?”

Everyone stared at him in shock, including Lilibet.

“I mean, I understand my sister, wanting to be rid of this life that reminds you of what you lost, but I must agree that this human is very young, and does not deserve to die yet, especially if my niece decided she was worth keeping around,” Sullivan stole a look at Lili, something she couldn’t understand twinkling in his eyes, “and I have never actually met Rea, therefore I will not be bothered by their shared memories, unlike all of you.”

There was quiet for a long time, Lilibet had to hold herself from asking to be taken by anyone but him, knowing it was not her place, so like the rest, she looked to Octavia, waiting for her verdict.

“Maeve, you were the closest to Rea, do you agree to this?” Octavia’s voice echoed in the hall.

“I… I see the sense of what he’s saying, and I don’t think Rea will want Lilibet to die…” Maeve took a deep breath, “So yes, I agree that will be the best choice,” she looked to Lilibet, “and I will be around to keep watch.”

“Then it’s decided,” Octavia raised her hand to stop Noelle from arguing, “now we only have until tomorrow at dusk to say our farewells, so I suggest we all make peace with these plans and start to enjoy each other’s company.” She pushed down on the table as she stood, “this family meeting is concluded.”

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Sullivan walked into Lilibet’s room without announcement. He had to bend down to come through the door, and now that they were alone in Lilibet’s tiny room he was even more imposing than before. He was now wearing slightly more formal clothes, except his white tunic was not closed, and he was lacking a scarf, meaning his wide chest was exposed. He was wearing dark blue trousers, which made his golden hair (now washed and re-platted) stand out even more. In Lilibet’s mind his wide shoulders and long hair made him resemble a lion or a bear.

From the second he came into her room his grey eyes were focused on her, their colourlessness adding to his air of mystery and fear.

And it didn’t help that he was towering, over two heads taller than her, so when they both stood she had to crank her neck to see anything except for his broad chest.

He came to her bed where she was sitting, wrapped in a towel, and kneeled next to her, grabbing her chin and moving her head side to side, as if inspecting her like cargo.

“Lilibet Garland, that is your name right?” His voice was so deep it echoed in the small room.

Was Maeve insane, giving Lili over to this… animal?

“Y…yes, though most just call me Lili,” she mumbled, her chin still in his hand.

“Of course,” he let her go finally, and bowed, as if with an invisible hat, “well, miss Lili, I am very pleased to meet you, my name is Sullivan Lyne,” he paused, coming closer, “but if you wish, little pet, you can call me Sully,” he whispered, winked, and was suddenly on his feet before Lilibet could even see him rise, and his hand was extended to her, asking her to get up too.

Hesitantly, knowing she had no other choice if she wanted to stay alive, Lilibet took his hand. Sullivan pulled her to him so quickly it made her dizzy, and she was utterly shocked finding herself pressed against his chest. He gently pulled her brown hair to one side, making sure her neck was exposed, holding her to him with one hand as if in a bear hug, using the other hand to hold onto the back of her head. She was too scared to protest.

He took a long, deep breath through his nose, passing his lips over her neck, and sighed.

“You smell like her…” he purred, just before he sank his huge teeth into her neck.

It wasn’t like Lilibet’s bite, everything about it felt different. It felt bigger and deeper, making her automatically squirm and whimper in pain, but Sullivan held her steadily in place, she felt he might as well have swallowed her whole. It also felt… sharper. The sensation that she got so used to of the drug of the bite didn’t feel the same. With Rea it felt soft, warm, inviting in every way. But this felt more like a stab of exhilaration, hot and piercing. Rea took over Lilibet so easily because her poison was so gradual, but Sullivan’s was like a strong kick of all of it at once.

Because Lilibet already started withdrawal, and now the bite was so different, her body did not react very gently. She started shaking hard, and even once Sullivan let go, licked the bite shut effectively, she still kept shaking.

“Whoa there,” he said softly, hugging her with both arms, holding her while she trembled, “you’re going to be okay, just relax,” he said, and she did. She stopped trying to hold herself steady, and surprisingly she trusted him to hold her. The tremors worsened for a second, then calmed down, “That’s it, don’t resist it,” his cheek pressed to the side of her head, she could feel his voice vibrating through her body, and she just stood there, mostly hanging in his arms, catching her breath.

Sullivan let her go, sitting her back down on the bed. 

She felt dizzy, not necessarily bad, but not amazing either. Mostly she was just surprised.

“We’ll get to know each other in no time,” he said, and then he was gone.

Everyone was packed, Eden Hall was left empty, and Lilibet, Frannie, Norbert, Maeve and Sullivan were the first to leave.

“Goodbye, be careful,” Noelle kissed Maeve on both cheeks, and then turned to Sullivan, “you better keep her safe, big brother, or I’ll have your head.”

“Don’t you trust me, little sis?” he chuckled, and hugged Maeve around the shoulder. Lilibet could see how uncomfortable Maeve was all the way from her seat in the carriage.

“Get off me, you brute,” Maeve pushed Sullivan away, and went on to hug Jerold goodbye.

Noelle spoke something in a language Lilibet didn’t recognise, before they shook hands by clasping each other’s forearms.

“It was… interesting to meet you,” Jerold said to Sullivan, but the larger vampire simple shrugged, “likewise,” Sullivan answered before he and Maeve joined their coffers in the carriage.

Waiving goodbye, the carriage left with Norbert holding the leash.

It took five days for the party to reach its destination. Up in Scotland, they were several miles out of Aviemore, in a large cottage hidden in the forest.

“Really? this is your safe house?” Maeve groaned as they stopped, and Sullivan laughed, his voice booming through the trees.

“No one else from the family knows about this place, and I have stayed here on and off for over six hundred years, so yeah, this is my safe house. Because it is just my house, and I have a habit of keeping myself safe.”

“Master Sul!” a voice called, and they all turned to the woods where a gorgeous ginger girl was standing. She wore a simple dress, and was carrying fire wood.

“Shona!” Sullivan roared, running too fast for Lilibet to see his movements properly, picking up the girl and spinning her around in the air like a child.

To everyone’s surprise, she laughed.

“My dear! look how much you’ve grown!” Sullivan laughed and put Shona down, who was still giggling, “everyone, this is Shona MacIver,” he paused and turned back to the girl, “are you in charge of the house now? already? you were just a yee toddler when I left!”

“Oh no Master Sul, me and my brother are just taking turns while mam is getting better,” She smiled, picking up the wood she dropped when Sullivan picked her up.

“A brother! oh my I have been gone a while,” Lilibet couldn’t make Sullivan’s tone anymore, she wasn’t sure if he was worried or happy, “but Shona, what do you mean while your mother is getting better? is she bedridden?”

“Oh I’m sorry Master Sul, I forgot you don’t know,” the girl looked sad, and started heading to the cottage, “Mam got a sickness, she’s been getting weaker, and a couple of month ago she couldn’t get up anymore.”

“Where’s Lennox?” Sullivan followed Shona, ignoring everyone’s questioning looks and Maeve’s rage.

“Father? He’s off hunting as usual.”

“Of course, of course,” he said as he followed the girl into house.

“Should we… go in?” Lilibet asked after a second of everyone staring at the open door.

“Yes, I’ll just go find a place for the horses,” Norbert nodded, and Frannie shrugged. As the humans started to make their way they noticed Maeve was standing, frozen in anger.

“Maeve? what is it?” Frannie put the bags she was carrying down at the door and walked back to Maeve.

“The bastard…” Maeve started to shake her head, “unbelievable.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Frannie didn’t get too close to Maeve, a little intimidated from her aggressive tone and stance. Lilibet also kept a safe distance, staying next to the door. She could still hear Sullivan and Shona talking inside.

“I knew I smelt something weird coming here. The whole village we passed, Garten, was stinking of his smell. I’ve never seen a territory marked so thoroughly, and it’s because he doesn’t kill anyone there. I bet half the place are his coffers. And did you hear how she talked? I bet they all know he’s a vampire too,” Maeve was shaking with anger, “you just don’t do shit like that, it’s unacceptable.”

“That’s right, unacceptable,” Sullivan was suddenly behind Lilibet, making her jump, but he put a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from running away as her body was telling her.

“Guess Octavia told you that didn’t she?” he continued, his voice quiet, so calm to the point it was frightening, especially as he was slowly tightening his grip onto Lili’s shoulder.

“Yeah, grandma and Noelle both told me all about you and your… tantrum.” Maeve was standing tall, but she did not make a very intimidating threat, standing so far away from such a bigger, older vampire.

“Funny, that,” he said quietly, and his nails started digging into Lilibet’s shoulder, blood soaking into her shirt, “because the way I remember it, it was Octavia who had the little tantrum,” his voice slowly lost its serenity and he was more snarling at that point, “after all she’s the one who forced me to kill a whole fucking town, because of her ‘ideology’, fucking idea that we should all only have a few, or if it was up to her, just one, she never realised that the more you have surrounding you, the safer you are, and the happier everyone is. But she was never able to see past her own nose, never able to see the bullshit she was spitting, talking about family, about rationality, never admitting that some people can have it differently, that some people want it differently! She’s happy killing needlessly, well I ain’t a pacifist, but I value life.” He took a deep breath, gently letting go of Lili’s shoulder, mouthing sorry, then stepping around her and talking straight to Maeve.

Instinctively Maeve started to back away, but Sullivan backed her all the way into a tree, while Frannie ran to Lilibet, holding her hand, her whole body screaming fear.

“Now tell me, little one, I know you believe the bullshit that they tell you that vampires only have one mate, but has your dear mother ever told you I used to be her mate? Did she tell you I was the reason she became a vampire? Did she tell you how me, her Octavia used to enjoy people together? that for about fifty years it was the three of us? fucking each other without a care in the world? Until Octavia met Venessa, and suddenly decided she was a monogamist? And Noelle followed her like a sheep.” He didn’t touch Maeve, but she was pressed against the tree behind her as if he was pinning her there physically. She was frozen with terror. “So I suggest you grow up, let go of your prejudices, cause even with our disagreements, Octavia and Noelle still put you in my care.”

He turned back, facing Lilibet, Frannie, and Norbert who were huddled together at the door of the cottage.

“Just so we’re clear, I am not beyond punishments, and if any of you cross me,” he looked over his shoulder at Maeve again, “I will drink from you what you owe me.”


	15. Chapter 14

You started to pick your battles very carefully. Each one, even the smallest, would drain you, hurt you, and the big ones left you unconscious for days. So you didn’t fight… directly.

It has been a week since Oscar told you he was an exception to the biting rule, and at first you didn’t pay it much thought, but slowly you realised he gave you the best opening there is.

Escape wasn’t a question anymore, not with that thing around your neck, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t survive here.

Survival, that was all it came to, because to you, dancing has always been an integral part of life, so really living was no longer an option.

Now you goal was clear, and it kept you focused, it kept you sane: you were going to make Oscar your coffer, whatever it takes.

“Right, you ready? try it,” Oscar stepped away, gesturing you to get up.

Ready? You will never be ready to try and walk on a damn prothesis.

It was a simple one, just a metal pole with a slightly wider base, that was screwed into a metal cup, a socket, that the end of your amputated leg sat in. The socket was sitting in a leather sock of sorts, that then was strapped tightly around your knee and leg like a corset.

Like a stupid pirate.

“Come on, Rea, just stand up,” Oscar was almost pleading, but also excited. He was very enthusiastic and friendly for the fact that he seemed to cause you so much pain.

You took a deep breath, put your foot and the end of the prosthesis on the floor, and pushed yourself to standing. That was easy enough, you barely put any weight on it, but Oscar took a step back, like a baby trying to make you walk.

Ignoring the patronisation, you put the prosthesis forward and tried to step on it.

As you expected, you ended up falling smack on your ass.

Oscar sighed, disappointed, and you were too angry to be nice anymore.

“What did you expect Rea was going to do? Magically know how to walk without a fucking leg?”

He blinked in surprise, you’ve never sworn around him before. To be honest you’ve never said such a long independent sentence in a while. But this was personal, this was your body… your… broken body.

You looked away, trying hard not to cry. He wasn’t feeding you enough for you to waste blood on tears now.

“Right, I’m sorry,” he said quietly, crouching down in front of you, “but you’re going to have to learn, after all what’s the use of an assistant who can only crawl?”

Since he broke you, making you give away your mother’s name, he had conducted numerous experiments, asking you all sorts of questions about how the collar was operating in your brain, testing you, giving you small and stupid tasks. He had never once mentioned to you what the goal was, so you were convinced that was it, just being a lab rat until he got bored and would let you die already.

“Assistant?” you cocked your head, confused and surprised.

“Yes, after all it would be most efficient to have a vampire helping me design the next version of the collar, and you know, generally being useful,” he shrugged, “you know, since you’re fast, have better senses and all that.” Was he blushing?

“Can Rea say no? Is this a request?” You knew you were pushing it, and just as you expected, his eyes fell, sad or angry, you couldn’t tell, but it made you flinch, shrink away as he stood up.

“No,” he said, and sighed, reaching his hand to you, “it’s a command, so now get up and start taking it seriously.”

Immediately your body started to move to obey, and when you tried to resist, to stay sitting on the floor, like all the times before, your brain started to feel on fire. So you let that fight go, you listened, taking his hand and standing again.

It took you three days to learn to walk again. But even as you were waddling around things started to become a routine. Day after day went by, Oscar would come, would give you some chores around his office, or would ask you questions about vampires, but mostly he would sit by his desk and scribble all day. Every other day he came in the morning bearing a small glass bottle with his blood, would stare at you as you drunk it and wait until you would describe to him what you tasted, what you saw.

You were always a little hungry, but you weren’t sure if it was because the blood was cold, half dead, and all you wanted to do was to be able to suck it out of his veins yourself, or whether it was because it was truly just not enough.

You never told him that.

After a week since he gave you the leg he started letting you out of his office and your room, sending you on chores around the building first, to get some letters from that person to another. Then he started sending you outside, giving you a thick coat with a collar to hide your neck, and a woollen hat to hide your shaved head.

A month passed without you noticing, as you slowly got used to this… life, if you could call it that. Standing on standby, or running around at human speed, hopping on the damn metal leg, doing what seemed like meaningless things. You were practically Oscar’s page, but you still felt like a dog. 

The way people around the building looked at you, making you feel small, making you wish you died that night they slit your throat.

“Good morning Rea!” Oscar came into his study, finding you sitting on the chair in the corner as always.

He seemed cheery…

“I need you to be on your best behaviour today, here, take these and go put them on,” he handed you a box he was carrying under his arm.

You walked over, taking the box from him curiously, and peeked inside.

It was a dress. A proper dress, one with a corset and raffles and a full skirt. It was a beautiful dark blue, almost navy, with little lace in white.

“What?” you stared at him, closing the box. You currently wore an old, fifth hand brownish dress that didn’t fit you properly, and now he wanted you to wear something you could have worn to a ball after a sold out show at the theatre.

“I said you need to put these on, what are you confused about?”

“It’s… pretty. Why do you need Rea to wear something pretty?”

“Oh!” he laughed, sitting down, “we’re going to go to the palace today, I’m going to show you off to Prince Arthur, he wants to see how my experiments are doing,” Oscar might as well have been shining with the amount of pride he was feeling.

Pride about making you into nothing more than a trophy.

“Oh, um… if you’re taking Rea somewhere like that, with a lot of people… it would be best if Rea was not on an empty stomach…” You looked down, trying to seem small, hoping he won’t get angry, but also hoping he would be kind, now that he was in a good mood.

This was your chance, you felt it.

“Right, of course, yes, good idea,” he mumbled to himself more than to you, but it was enough of an agreement so it wasn’t painful for you to put the box down and walk to him. You stood next to him, looking down at him. _So close…_

He was looking around, trying to find a knife, not noticing you came over. You kneeled down at his feet, not able to keep your fangs in any longer, your eyes and veins around them dark.

“Please?” you put your hands on his knee, like a dog, begging.

_If he thinks of Rea as one, then might as well act like it._

He froze, looking down at you with wide eyes, confused at your behaviour.

“It’s not a good idea,” he said, mostly to himself, looking away.

“Just a small, quick little bite, then Rea promises to be good and friendly at the palace.”

He bit his lip, then sighed, “If you’ll actually smile for me, then you can have a little.”

That was all you needed. Without waiting for him to change his mind, you quickly pushed yourself up with your leg, flung your prosthesis over him and sat in his unprepared lap, putting a finger on his lips before he could make a sound.

“I know what I’m doing,” you grinned, wondering if he knew what you really meant by that, and then you bit deep into his neck.

It had been so long since you tasted fresh blood, and even longer since you had the joy of biting someone’s neck, bursting their artery, that you didn’t even notice your brain starting to hurt.

You tasted his childhood, felt the first time he ever kissed a man, the first time he ever had sex, felt his heart beat fast the first time he told Stuart he loved him.

You wanted to keep going, you wanted to take it all, but you noticed his heart slowing down, and you know that if you took anymore he would faint. And to make it worse, your head was hurting so much you couldn’t even see properly.

So you let go of his neck, licking the bite in long strokes, enjoying the taste of his blood and his skin as the wound healed. His heart went back to its normal rate, even a little faster due to the drug in your bite, and you could feel his body was completely relaxed. Your head stopped burning, and you sighed in relief. You didn’t cross any rules. You didn’t hurt him.

Still sitting on him, a hand on each shoulder, you passed your lips on the fresh skin where you bit him, licking it slowly, kissing it, feeling his body react to each of your movements.

You straightened, and started to climb off him when he abruptly grabbed your left wrist, holding you tight and stopping your motion. The collar, always wanting to obey, made it impossible for you to get out of his grip.

“What was that?” he breathed, eyes half closed, head hanging back a little. He was still high from it, it actually impressed you he even managed to grab you in the first place.

“A bite,” you settled back down on him, now pressing your body against his. Vampire instincts of seduction never fail, “didn’t you like it?” You never actually told him about coffers, and the poison in your bites, the addiction that it makes. You mean, he never really asked about it…

He was struggling to stay awake, both from the lack of blood and the bite, but he was less suggestible than you expected.

“I… I did… but I shouldn’t have…” he shook his head, slowly coming out of it, “what did you do? how did you do… that?”

You put your right hand on his chest, keeping him seated, and had your nose almost touching his. _Almost there, he’s almost mine._

“That’s what I do, what I can give you,” you purred, whispering, “if you’re willing to give yourself over, I can make all your dreams come true.”


	16. Chapter XV

Blood rushing. Head light. Heart racing. Body relaxed.

I felt as if I was in a sweet fog made of warm steam. I felt euphoria I’ve only ever felt for split seconds before in my life. Like the first time Stuart told me he loved me. But this… this kept going. I was in a delirious bliss.

Then she took her teeth out, and it started to calm down, even though whenever she licked me, whenever her tongue touched me skin, it made such a rush go through my body, that I shook with rapture. She started to climb off.

_No, don’t go…_ I thought, and grabbed her wrist, only then realising what I was thinking and what was happening.

“What was that?” I said, or at least, I tried, the words barely coming out of my tired mouth. I could barley even open my eyes.

“A bite,” her voice was sweet and thick, and she sat back down with her full weight in my lap, and to my surprise my body loved it, “didn’t you like it?”

Why was that such a hard question to answer?

“I… I did… but I shouldn’t have…” I shook my head to try and wake myself up, trying to sit up straighter, but she was on me, holding my in place, “what did you do? how did you do… that?” Every part of my body that touched her screamed for more, I have never felt so desperate in my life. I was not such a man, I never gave in to my desires easily, it was never an option. So when she put her hand on my chest, I found myself too stunned to react the way I wanted to, and too awake to respond the way my body wanted to.

“That’s what I do, what I can give you,” her face was so close to mine that I could feel her breath, closing my eyes, “if you’re willing to give yourself over, I can make all your dreams come true.”

She caressed my neck, with one finger tracing patterns on my skin.

I slowly, methodically, let her wrist go, finger by finger opening my grip and then letting my arm drop. My body felt so heavy.

It felt so good.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. For the first time since I first saw her, she looked awake, she looked alive, almost happy.

“So, what do you say, Oscar?” Her voice twisted around my name in such an intoxicating way, as if she was gripping my very being, “will you be mine?” her lips were against my ear, her voice so quiet, yet so clear that it felt almost angelic.

I knew, somehow, that what she meant by that was not what Stuart meant when he proposed. Something in me knew that she meant something very different… much more visceral, carnal.

“Yes.”

She bit me again, this time gently, and higher, behind my ear where my neck met my skull. This time she didn’t do it to drink, I knew because I couldn’t feel the pull I did earlier when she sucked. Instead this was territorial.

This was solely for pleasure.

I knew I was beyond control, I knew she was wrapping me around her finger as she licked the bite she made, making me shiver with ecstasy as the wound healed. I knew this wasn’t sensible, I knew it wasn’t sane.

But I didn’t care.

I gave myself wholly over to her on a silver platter, and loved every second of it.

She kissed my neck, she kissed my jaw, she kissed my lips, and I found myself kissing her back. Then her tongue was in my mouth, and I could feel my head filling with sugary heat as she tasted me. I found the strength to raise my arm and hold her face, pulling her almost aggressively to me, as if that could make her closer than she already was.

Clothes came off and before long we were on the floor, lying there, catching our breath.

She sat up before the world even stopped spinning for me, and she was smiling, truly smiling, leaning against the wall.

There was such beauty to her that no human could ever possess.

“Well, that went better than expected,” she giggled, and stroked my cheek with her hand.

I forced myself to sit up, “what do you mean?”

“Rea wasn’t sure if you’d let it happen. You’re very strong willed.” She shrugged, and I wondered why she went back to referring to herself by name. _I really need Eugene to see her…_

“Is that a compliment?”

“Do you want it to be?” she smirked, and before I could say anything she stood up, picking up her clothes and wearing them before I completed two heartbeats.

“His majesty will see you know,” the butler called after he opened the door to prince Arthur’s office, and I nodded thank you as I passed him, Rea just a step behind me.

She was beautiful in that dress, and I hoped that the prince will see the beauty of what I managed to do, too.

“Oscar!” the prince cheered, opening his arms.

“My prince,” I replied, bowing respectfully, “may I introduce Rea, the one I have been telling you about,” I gestured with my hand, and she came forward, curtsying, a shy little smile on her face.

_I guess she’s better at acting than I thought._

“Wonderful!” He said, looking at her up and down. Even with a shaved head she was stunning, but he was looking at her like a slab of meat, eyes lingering on the collar, “tell me all about it, my dear friend,” he continued, and I knew that I had to give him a pretty damn good sales pitch if I wanted this to keep going.

“Right, of course, my prince,” I said, and turned Rea around so her back was facing us.

“As you can see, most of the equipment is placed in the collar that is locked around the neck, so that it is safe, and the mechanical arms go through into the brain from one spot at the base of the skull. They take root in every critical place in the brain, so that when the host is trying to do something the collar was programmed against, it knows it before it is even done: it recognises the thoughts themselves you see, and then it makes sure that they are not carried out.”

“Fascinating, now how does it do that?”

“Would you like Rea to explain it?”

“Oh? she can do that?”

“Of course, after all she’s the one experiencing it.”

“Well then, yes, go right ahead.”

“Rea, tell his majesty what happens when you think, or try to do something you are not allowed.”

She turned back around to face us, suddenly looking so vacant compared to just a moment ago.

“When Rea thinks or tries to disobey, the body still wants to obey, and it fights. So Rea needs to try very hard to even physically do what she was told not to. But before that, if Rea just thinks about it, then the brain starts to burn, and then everything hurts… and…” she looked down, leaving the three of us for a second in awkward silence, “so Rea obeys.”

The prince clapped, “How intriguing! Is Rea the name you gave her?” he looked at me for a second, but then went back to staring at her, “so cute, so I assume she has to do _everything_ you tell her?”

“Oh no, my prince, Rea is her birth name, Rea Horton, you might have seen her in the Ballet before she was turned into a vampire,” he simply waved, not actually interested in my answer, “Yes, she will carry out every command,” I stole a look at her face when I said this, seeing her staring off into no where. This was not good, she was reverting back into herself…

“Right, right… so if I say… Rea pick up that glass from the table there?” it was a question to me, but for her it was enough, and she did it, handing him the glass, and he laughed in delight.

“So tell me again, dear Oscar, what do you want to do with these?”

“I want to, revolutionise the way we live, see, with vampires that have to listen to every order, they are the perfect servants, perfect slaves. Feeding them is easier than feeding people, I conclude that they don’t need a lot of blood at all, and with their speed and their strength, even females can handle everything, so now instead of having a lot of servants, you only need one or two vampires at your estate and you’re sorted. And once I have perfected the collars, they can be as common as you need, so even dirty jobs like chimney cleaning can be done by them, so that then every boy and girl will have more time to do more meaningful jobs.”

I clasped my hand, my heart all the way down in my toes, hoping to hell he won’t fire me for this, let alone, hopefully, will agree and give me the backing I want.

He hummed, staring at Rea as she stood there, hands clasped behind her back, staring ahead into nothing, and then looked at the glass in his hands.

“But how… good are they at, you know, being independent?”

“I’m afraid for that Rea is not a good example, as I believe this prototype might have… affected her brain more than anticipated. But that’s why I need more time to build a new version, so that when it’s installed it doesn’t affect their ability to think.”

He nodded, then put the glass down, “all right, you build your new version, I’ll make sure you’ll have what you need, and you come back to me within six months with a new prototype, a different vampire, show me that you can provide what you say you can, and we will sell this like chocolate,” I smiled from ear to ear, and he saw, raising a hand, “but you only have six months, do you understand? If you can’t find a way to make it happen without spoiling the goods, then there’s no reason to invest more time or thought into it. Understood?”

“Yes, of course, thank you, my prince, I won’t let you down.”


	17. Chapter ט״ז

A knock on her door woke Lilibet up. Confused, she went to it, rubbing her eyes and opened it. It was the middle of the night, who on earth needed her right now?

Sullivan. Of course.

“I’m sorry I woke you, I just wanted to properly apologise for your shoulder,” he said quietly, “will you let me fix it?”

Still half asleep, she stared at him, his words taking a while to sink in.

“Please, dear Lilibet, let me make it up to you.”

She couldn’t decide what she thought about him, after earlier, but he hadn’t bit her since that first time in Eden Hall, and her body was desperate.

“All right…” she decided, undoing the top of her nightgown and taking it off her right shoulder. It was bandaged, blood already soaked through the material.

Gently, with his big hands, Sullivan took her bandage off, flinching as he saw the wound that already started to get infected.

“I am truly sorry,” he sighed, and leaned down, licking the blood so lightly she could barely feel his tongue on her skin, but soon enough she felt a warmth spreading from her shoulder.

Once it was healed he straightened up, and took her hand, “will you take a walk with me?”

“Now? It’s the middle of the night…”

“Well, yes,” he smirked, “please, you won’t regret it.”

“Fine, just… let me get dressed first,” she was so tired, she forgot to be polite.

“No need, come, no one will see you,” he pulled her, leading her out of her room then out of the cottage, and into the forest.

Barefoot, walking side by side in silence, she took the time to look at him, and noticed that this was the first time she had seen him like this, in the moonlight. He looked different somehow, more like a wolf, proud and tall, almost like a perfect roman statue.

“I’m sorry you had to see that earlier, I didn’t mean for you to find out any of that in this manner-“

“Why do you want me?” she found the courage to interrupt him, asking him a question that has been gnawing on her for a while, “when you first bit me, you said I smelt like someone, who did you mean? why did you fight to get me in the first place?”

He blushed, making his white face more pink in the dark, “you noticed that, didn’t you?” he chuckled, “I guess there’s not harm in your knowing, well, I guess if anyone, you deserve to know,” he scratched his neck, flipping his plat around, “well, I might have lied to my family that day, when I said that I never met Rea,” Lilibet froze, stopped mid step and stared at him.

“What?”

“I met her once, when she first joined my family, I was around London for my own business and I just… wanted to know what Noelle was up to,” he sighed, looking away, “I might be good at being alone, but that does not mean I miss my first mate,” he said so quietly she could barely hear him, but then shrugged and continued, “so I accidentally met Rea while she was having fun running around hunting some small animals, she was still just a baby in vampire terms, completely overtaken by instinct, so when she smelt me she knew I was family, and she hugged me,” he took a deep breath, and Lili could feel the emotion in his voice, “no vampire hugged me like that in centuries,” he said, a small smile on his face, “she was… very pure, don’t you agree?”

Taken aback by his question, she shrugged, “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” her own connotations with purity were much different from his.

“Well, anyway, we talked for a while, she told me about her life, how happy she was, and I asked her about Noelle and she brought me up to a bit of speed about family matters. We spent that whole night together, and at my request she promised she will not tell my sister we had met,” he smiled, sadness in his eyes, and started walking again, forcing Lilibet to walk behind him.

“So when I saw the news, when I heard what happened, I was angry, but it made me realise that I can not stay away from my family forever, it had been about 780 years since I’ve seen them, and with vampire hunters only getting more sophisticated I knew I didn’t want to die missing them. That’s why I came back, because Rea reminded me what family meant, and so when I saw you… and you smelt so strongly of her, I… I was being selfish, I’m sorry, it would have been better if someone else took you,” he stopped, and Lilibet noticed they were standing in a small clearing, the full moon lighting Sullivan like a majestic beast, a great cat, “if you want, I’m sure Maeve will take you, she loved Rea, I can see it, so I’m sure you two will make a better pair.”

He went silent, and suddenly Lilibet realised he was seriously asking her, truly giving her a choice.

She was stumped, on the one hand he was probably right. She knew Maeve, she trusted Maeve, and she knew Frannie and Norbert were happy being her’s. She also knew Sullivan would not need her, he had the whole village of Garten willing to be fed on. But something in her stomach, the way that he viewed the world, the way she could feel how ancient he was. He was terrifying, the way he loomed over her made her always slightly on edge.

But he was honest with her, and the way he talked to the girl, Shona, made her feel like there was a gentleness in him that she wanted to see more of. And most of all, he gave her the choice, when even Rea wasn’t so frank, so truthful and clear in her request. The fact that he just gave her such a clear exit, knowing she is likely to leave, and making no move to stop her from it, she found she trusted him more than she expected. Something about him made her full of awe, and she more.

“No, I’d rather be your’s.”

The moon felt so bright, so cold on her skin, and when Sullivan’s eyes went black, and his face changed, the veins on his temples forming impressive patterns that looked black in the night sky, LIlibet found herself holding her breath.

Silent, his steps not making a sound, he walked to her, standing so close his feet almost touched hers, and she looked up at him, her heart beating so fast she could hear it in her ears. The fight or flight response kicked in, adrenaline rushing, and she had to hold herself from running away from his formidable figure.

Without a word, but with his body asking the questions, hovering for a second, checking she didn’t flinch away before touching her, he slowly and gently took her night gown off, letting it fall to the forest floor.

“Then I’ll make you mine,” he whispered, his voice like hum, vibrating through the trees, through her skin.

He took her hand, kissed the back of it, then bit it lightly, not very deep, just letting his fangs piece her palm, and quickly licked the wound shut. He went on like that, kissing, biting, then licking, from her wrist, to her shoulder, then repeated on the other side. Sullivan, this vampire she feared so much, then knelt down at her feet, kissing then biting each of her calves, then on the outside of each of her thighs. She held her breath, expecting him to go between her legs, but instead he pulled her down to her knees too, so his face was not so far above hers anymore, and he softly held her hips, biting her waist on each side, then licking it shut. By then his poison already filled her veins, making her soft and warm, but awake and cold at the same time. Because this time he had filled her gradually, instead of biting her straight in the neck, her body took it better, and she could actually enjoy it, even though it was still sharper than what she was used to.

He straightened in front of her for a second, and she looked at his square face, his expression so tranquil. Then he leaned down, and to her surprise, drove his fangs through her chest right into her heart.

Lilibet howled in surprise, grabbing his shoulders and instinctively pushing him away, but he didn’t budge, instead holding on to her tighter, and drunk straight from her heart. She felt as if he was drinking her core, her soul, her very being.

His poison spread so suddenly through her whole body in one heartbeat, and she let out a yelp, a true high pitch sound of shock. Her eyes rolled back into her skull as she felt as if she was made of a star, burning and shining, exploding out in rhapsody, relaxing into his grip, letting him hold her.

She was on cloud nine, lost in her senses, disconnected from reality, that when she finally came to she was surprised to find that he was not biting her anymore, and the wound was already healed. He was simply holding her to his chest, arms surrounding her like a blanket as she was practically curled up on his lap.

He tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up at him, and smiled. His face was now human looking again, and Lili could see his emotion was genuine, but she didn’t smile back, still too overwhelmed, still scared and unsure.

“Are you all right?” he asked, and Lilibet found herself unable to answer. Was she? Part of her wanted to say that of course she was, she felt fantastic, but something was wrong…

Abruptly, without any warning to herself or to Sullivan, Lili started to sob. She put her head on his chest again, letting herself cry, finally letting out quite a lot of emotion that had built up over the journey to Scotland.

She realised that the reason she wasn’t happy wasn’t because of him, after all he did make her feel amazing, like she belonged. No, the reason she was sad was because no matter how great and accommodating Sullivan was, he could not heal her broken heart, he could not fill the hole that Rea left there.

“You truly loved her, I’m sorry I cannot bring her back, and I’m sorry I cannot avenge her death,” he whispered into the night, and for a second his accuracy surprised her, until she remembered that he practically just read her thoughts when he drank her blood, and therefore, realised that of course he would know what she felt.

“I miss her so much, I can’t believe she’s gone,” Lili found herself admitting, saying words she hadn’t let herself say out loud. What was it about Sullivan that made her feel she could say it? She still couldn’t fully understand what it meant to be a vampire’s coffer.

“I know,” he stroked her hair, “and you probably always will miss her, but that’s okay, just because you love someone, just because you miss them, doesn’t mean you can’t love others, doesn’t mean you can’t move on.”

She wiped her face, sniffling, “what do you mean?”

“I mean you don’t have to give up loving her and missing her to belong to me, or to be happy here. They are not mutually exclusive, you can have both,” he held her face in his hands, almost swallowing it with how big they were compared to her face, “don’t let anyone convince you to betray your heart, you promise? Love whom ever you love, however many, with as much devotion as you have in you. If anyone tells you otherwise, if they hint you should stop loving, then they expect you to break your own heart. So don’t, all right? fill the universe with love, unbound and infinite, and you’ll be okay,” he kissed her on the forehead, but his words moved her, and she was not satisfied with that, so she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

It was only a peck, but he grabbed her by the back of the neck before she could move away, and kissed her back.

It was a long kiss, deep, but it wasn’t sexual, there was no tongue or pulling of lips. It was more emotional than that, it was as if they both signed themselves away to each other: a coffer to their vampire, promising to stay; and a vampire to their coffer, promising to protect and provide, with the full moon itself as the witness.


	18. Chapter יז

A few days after arriving in the cottage, —which Lilibet found out was called Mallachie View, since it was the closest house to Loch Mallachie, the lake the cottage was built not far from — she decided to accompany Sullivan to Garten. He was going to visit the MacIver house and to check on Ealair, who he found out was very sick when they first arrived to Garten.

“You really don’t have to come with me, you know,” Sullivan said as they walked through the woods towards the village.

“I know, but I want to see… how this works…”

“Ah,” he chuckled, “well have fun interrogating them, but they probably don’t even remember how it started, I think it’s been over 8 generations ago now.”

She stared at him in shock, at how calm he was saying that. When they were at Eden Hall Lilibet heard that he was almost as old as Octavia, but now she was slowly realising truly how old he was, but she wasn’t sure how to ask him about it. It wasn’t the most acceptable thing to go ‘so give me a timeline of your stupidly long life please’.

“So will you tell me how it started?” she opted to ask about Garten instead.

“Well, do you want the long or short version?”

“Long, if we have time,” she smiled, “please?”

He laughed, his deep voice booming around the trees, making all the little creatures hide.

“Sure, well, after I left my family, and let’s not get into that, I was roaming around a lot. I couldn’t settle down because other vampire families had heard of what happened and were not… happy with me. Eventually I came up here, since there aren’t really any other vampires around in Scotland, it’s too spaced out, not enough stock… and the people are too superstitious. But I didn’t have much choice, so I went from village to village, until I came here, to Garten. Well, it was only three houses at the time, all belonging to the MacIver family,” Sullivan then stopped walking, and gestured to Lilibet to sit with him on the damp grass. And, enchanted by his story, she sacrificed the dryness of her bum and sat down beside him, leaning on a wide tree trunk.

“That’s when I met Athol, he was 16, just starting to think about the future, and flirting with anything that moved,” Sullivan chuckled to himself at the memory, and his fondness made Lilibet smile too, “I was still struggling with what had happened before, with what Octavia thought and made me do, so I was not planning on keeping him alive… but he charmed me, and when he first saw my features turn he didn’t scream or was even shocked. He just assumed I was a daemon, a forest spirit, and that I came to take my payment, for him disturbing nature by cutting an old tree a couple days before,” he shook his head, “thinking back to it, it was pretty bizarre, but then he became my coffer, still thinking I was a spirit. So I stuck around, feeding on him regularly, and on others not regularly, so that no one but him became dependant. I built myself a shack of sorts, and he got married, bringing his wife to Garten, obviously realising that he couldn’t leave me. They had children, but he would still come to meet me in the forest, where the cottage is now.”

Sullivan’s expression changed, and he fell silent, looking at the ground for a while, and Lilibet knew she should not interrupt his sorrow. He was still grieving this Athol, after all this time… she began to understand what he meant in the clearing the night before.

“When he died, it broke my heart, so I came to the funeral, not caring at the time about being seen, not even thinking about the consequences, but then his daughter came up to me, and she was already pregnant, and she asked if I was her father’s daemon.

‘Athol’s guardian’, she called me, and I was so honoured by his view of me that I forgot about Octavia, and I said that I was, that in fact I was the daemon of this place, and I will protect every living soul so long there is at least one person who would devote themselves to me.

She begged me to take her, to protect her and her child, since her husband was off to war, so I did. Then I was suddenly known to everyone, and when the village grew I became known as the MacIver daemon.”

He paused, looking at Lilibet as he continued, “So that’s how it all started here, I made sure to teach them enough so they would know what to expect, and threatened enough to make sure they keep me secret. But now I’m more of a tradition than anything else. I actually haven’t had a coffer in about a hundred years.”

Lilibet blinked in surprise, “So, I’m the first coffer you’ve had… since about 1800?”

“Yes, you’re the first human to be bonded to me since 1803 actually.”

“Why?”

“Um, let’s just say that I couldn’t protect someone, and they died because of me… I just couldn’t bear the thought of trying again after that…”

“How… How old are you?” Now that they were sitting down and he was being so open with her she found the courage to ask.

He smirked, “you’re a curios little cat,” he chuckled, “I was actually born around year 877, but I never knew the date, however I can tell you I was born as a vampire in the winter of the year 903.”

“Damn,” the word slipped out of her mouth before she realised, and she quickly put her hand on her mouth, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

But Sullivan simply laughed, pushing himself to his feet, “don’t you worry about it. Now do you still want to come with me?”

Still blushing, Lilibet nodded, standing up, “Yes… if we’re going to stay here for a while, I might as well know the neighbours.”


	19. Chapter 18

**A year later, March 1904**

Tonight was important, tonight was a milestone.

The worst kind of milestone, because tonight was the very first auction of collared vampires.

There were only three lots, and you knew them all personally. Ronette Honeycutt was the youngest, a sweet looking thing that made all the men glare at her supernatural beauty. Briella Francis was older, in her 300s, but she only looked 15, short and spindly, and did not attract much attention due to her flat chest. Dyson Laurence was the oldest, strong looking, young looking, and also the toughest to break.

You were there as each of them arrived, as each of them was implanted with the latest collar, and you saw the hope fading from their eyes when they were unchained, then found themselves unable to run away.

The only thing that kept you holding on to reality, instead of letting go of awareness, was Oscar. Through the whole time, he was always there, seeing how you were upset by the situation, unable to do much, but caring non the less.

“Right, is everything ready? can we let everyone in?” Oscar looked around the hall, his eyes lingering on each of the vampires, before looking to you, and you nodded. Being his page, you were the one to know.

“Fantastic! Rea, go ahead and open the doors!”

You kept wondering how he was able to be so happy about this. Couldn’t he see how disgusting it was? He was going to sell people like art, not even like cattle, and he was treating it as if it was normal like anything else. How could he do this while still loving you like he did?

You never could ask though, because you knew he would not be able to handle that at all.

The doors open, a crowd of rich aristocrats rushed in, hurrying to get a seat, hurrying to purchase the latest delicacy.

You made your way to the back of the room, so that you could see the audience and the stage, and also closest to the door. But mostly you decided to stand there because it was the furthest away from the hunters who lined the wall behind the stage: all standing in uniform, hands crossed behind their backs like soldiers, but they were there for show, because the truth was they were not needed, and they knew that.

Your eyes fell on Stuart, who stood closest to the stage, closest to Oscar as he could.

Even after everything, after almost killing you, you still couldn’t help loving him. You couldn’t help it, it was re-enforced every time you fed on Oscar after all.

He saw you looking, and his expression turned as usual to disgust.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen! As you know, we are here tonight to start off what I hope will one day become normality,” Oscar spoke to the room, making you look away from Stu. He waited a little, letting people clap before he continued, “please, let me introduce to you the very first ever domesticated vampires!”

The crowd burst into cheers as Oscar stepped back and Briella, Ronette and Dyson stepped forward.

You couldn’t bare it anymore, letting yourself drift away, not thinking about anything, not even really existing anymore except for the fact that you were still awake, waiting to be called. It was easier to deal like that with anything, but you were annoyingly distracted suddenly when you smelt a familiar smell… a familiar smell of a vampire.

Looking up, eyes going back into focus, you saw at once the person you were looking for.

Albert Martel was walking around the hall, finding a seat in the middle of the crowd and looking as if he was interested to buy.

He was an old vampire that you only met briefly before, when visiting your grandmother, and he was not easy to miss. Albert had quite a dark skin for a vampire, and he was a big man, but most of all it was his almost completely white eyes, with just a sliver of yellow for irises. The only thing you knew about him was that he was very respected, as were all the Martels, and that he was a friend’s of your family.

Feelings, memories of people you managed to make yourself forget rushed back with the sight of him, and you pressed yourself harder against the wall behind you. You didn’t want to think about this, you forgot it all on purpose!

Then, looking around the room, he saw you, and his gaze stopped as you crossed eyes with him.

_Please._ You were thinking, not even sure what you were asking. Maybe for him to go away, or for him to help you? You could never think straight about anything like that, you got too good at avoiding the pain.

He turned back around to the stage, and you sighed with relief, closing your eyes. Maybe you should go tell Oscar about this… No! don’t be stupid! Turning in your own kind like that? That’s beyond despicable. You’ve already done enough damage to your race.

The auction came to a close, the vampires sold to some sick noblemen and woman who payed thousands for them, and the crowd started to leave.

You exchanged looks with Dyson as he passed, saying goodbye. Saying sorry.

“Rea, come,” you heard Oscar call from across the room, even though it wasn’t much more than a whisper, and automatically started walking to him, and since you didn’t try to stay in human speed you were by his side less than a second later, and he didn’t even flinch in surprise anymore.

Only then did you realise he was talking to Albert.

“Rea, this is Albert Moray, he was just asking about you,” Oscar placed his hand on the small of your back as he usually did. Intimate, but still possessive.

“Pleasure to meet you,” you curtsied, hoping to god Albert will play along and pretend not to know you.

“Likewise,” Albert bowed his head, “I was just asking if you were really the first, the one who used to be a ballerina and was caught to be a vampire on stage, but I see that you have a prosthetic leg…”

He was not being helpful!

“Yes,” you managed to say, forcing a small smile on your face. _Just play along…_ “Rea only lost the leg after being captured.”

“I see… now when was that?”

You looked to Oscar, not sure what to do anymore. Was it an appropriate question?

“Oh, it must have been over a year ago now, why do you ask?” Oscar came to the rescue.

“Well, as a vampire, it only takes a couple of years for her to grow back limbs, is that not true?”

_No…_

“What?” you started to shake, so you drove your nails into your palms to keep steady, “grow back?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you sir, but I have researched vampire biology for many years now and I have yet to see evidence for that. Pray tell me why do you assume that?” Oscar’s eyes were narrow, and you knew he was a very quick man.

_Run_. You said to Albert with your eyes.

“Oh it was just an assumption, of course I trust your knowledge as a doctor more than the word on the street.” Albert shrugged, so relaxed, but the way he said it only reassured you that he knew exactly what he was talking about. “Right then, I will be off now, thank you for time,” he bowed, and walked away.

You were on the verge of tears. After all this time, a hope after hope being torn away, finally there was something good. In due time you will get your leg back!

“Rea?” Oscar pulled your arm, turning you to face him, “What’s wrong?”

You shook your head, wiping away the blood that built up at the tear ducts before it fell down your face.

“Nothing, I was just… really hoping he was right.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he almost leaned to kiss you, but stopped himself at the last second, just in time as Stuart walked towards you.

“Oscar, congratulations! I’m so proud,” the hunter pulled Oscar from you into a hug, giving you dirty looks as usual.

“Thank you, Stu,” Oscar beamed, and when he stepped away from Stuart he saw the way you were looking at each other.

It was the first time you were this close to Stuart since he drove a stake into your chest.

“Rea.”

“Stuart.”

Oscar sighed, “Please, this is a big deal, and it was a great success, can you two just get along for tonight?”

“Fine, but you’re not going to try and bring her along to dinner, are you?” Stuart gaze could have been full of knives and you wouldn’t have known the difference.

Only reason Stuart didn’t try to kill you again since four months ago was because Oscar explained to him that he could die from the withdrawal, and luckily, Stuart loved Oscar more than he cared about how wrong it was what you were doing to Oscar when he wasn’t there.

“No, of course not, what would be the point of her coming to dinner?” Oscar laughed awkwardly, trying to warm the air again, “pretend to eat food? sit there awkwardly and watch us eat?” he went on, trying to explain his own joke as he saw how it did not help even a little.

“I mean, Rea can eat too,” you said, stepping closer to Oscar, putting a hand on his shoulder, close to his neck. You enjoyed the face Stuart pulled, how his eyes bulged in anger. _He deserves it for not understanding._

“Stop it! Both of you!” Oscar stepped away, and you let your arm drop to your side. He looked back and forth between you and Stuart as you both looked at him with pleading eyes, wanting his attention, hating how he loved the other.

“Fuck it, come on Stu, let’s go eat. Rea, just go home, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Angrily, Oscar grabbed Stuart’s arm and pulled him away, almost stomping out of the room, leaving you there in the empty hall, alone.

And you couldn’t even be angry with him.

You sat in your room behind Oscar’s office, playing with the key to your collar. It was cruel, as you had it in your hands, but was still unable to use it to fr-

_Don’t think it, don’t think it, don’t_

“Rea are you in here?” Oscar popped his head in. For him it was pitch black, and he could not see you even though you were able to see him perfectly.

“Right here, like you said,” you answered, hiding the key away back in the crack in the wall. He still hasn’t figured out you stole it.

Squinting, blind, he entered your room and closed the door, starting to walk towards you when you lost patience and went to him, putting a hand gently on his chest.

He froze, then relaxed, putting his hands on yours, stepping closer. It was then you saw how red and puffy his eyes were, and smelt the salt on his skin.

“You cried,” you noted, putting your other hand on his face and stroking his cheek with your thumb, “What happened?”

“Stuart packed his things, said he was going to stay with his parents for a while,” Oscar’s voice broke as he said this, and he started crying again, sniffling.

You hugged him, holding him as he spoke, “it’s all my fault, I should have known better than to let you bite me. I should have been more careful… I should-“ he broke down, sobbing into your shoulder, and you felt as if you swallowed a piece of glass.

You half lead, half carried him to your bed, sitting him down, holding his hand until he calmed down. You didn’t know what to say, after all to him you were worse than an animal, of course he would be ashamed.

He looked up at you, saw your expression, and burst into tears again, “I’m sorry Rea, I didn’t mean it like that… you know…”

“Rea is yours, and you are Rea’s. In the end there’s nothing that can change that,” you said when he was lost for words. He could be as disgusting to you as he wanted, but you could not leave, and as your coffer he was bound to you, addicted to you, so he could not leave either.

He also loved Stuart, and that was never going to change.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, leaning his face on your shoulder, “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

“What if… what if Rea will show Stuart what he’s missing?”

“What?” he looked up straight away, shocked, “you want to try and bite him?”

The second he said it in those words the pain in your head started, and you had to grit your teeth in order to even nod yes.

Oscar opened his mouth as if he was going to shout at you against it, but then stopped mid-breath.

“I… no… he won’t accept it, and it will be too dangerous, it’s hard enough to keep this secret…” he looked away, putting a hand on his lips like he always did when he was thinking hard.

You couldn’t say anything more to help convince him, your brain already burning from even thinking about it, so you forced yourself to stop, going blank to stop the pain.

Finally, after almost half an hour of Oscar simply sitting in the dark beside you and thinking, he sat up straight and nodded, “Fine, Rea you’re allowed to bite Stuart, but under no circumstances hurt him in any way, and you’re only allowed to do so if he allows you to. So you have to ask him, okay? I can’t loose him…”

You nodded, feeling the wires in your brain reacting to the new commands.

_Fucking finally!_

It was easy enough to find Stuart, as you knew his smell so well. He was sitting on a train heading south, on the window seat, so you even managed to see his face as you caught up to the train, running beside it.

It was hard to run that fast with one leg, but with the new foot Oscar gave you, that was more mechanical and included a spring, it was manageable.

Once you saw Stuart and was sure this was his train, you ran on the rails behind it and hopped onto the last cart. It was so dark, only a tiny sliver of a moon in the sky, and you were almost silent as you stepped into the car, making sure no one will notice you.

Stuart was sitting in a carriage room by himself, his bags on the seats around him, staring out of the window at the passing view. You could smell he had cried too that night, but more so, you could smell the whiskey on his breath.

You slowly opened the sliding doors, stepped in and sat down in front of him. You were quiet enough, fast enough, and he was drunk enough that he only saw you after you sat down, jumping in his seat and shouting in surprise.

“Dear lord! What the fuck? how did you get here?!” he looked down at his whiskey flask, “is this a nightmare?”

You knew this is what you were going to have to convince to let you bite him, and so part of you wishedyou didn’t love him, so that you wouldn’t want to make him yours, so that you wouldn’t have to deal with the way he thought of you.

“No, Rea’s here in the flesh,” you answered, learning forward, “Rea has a proposition for you.”

He looked at you up and down, disgust and confusion in his eyes, “I have a gun with me, I can kill you right now…” he muttered.

“You fought with Oscar because you don’t understand why he is letting Rea feed on him, is that right?”

“Well, and because he lets you fuck him,” he was stuttering, angry and drunk.

“Right, but Rea can help you understand, Rea can explain it all to you.”

He laughed, “Yeah, sure, because you know what it’s like to be gay and find out the person you trusted the most is cheating on you.”

“No, because that is not what’s happening. Oscar is not cheating on you.” You sighed, this was going to be tough, “Please, just let Rea show you. Give it a chance…”

He shook his head, “fine, whatever, I’m listening.”

You grinned, fangs coming out. This was enough of an agreement for you to bite him.

Without letting him say another word, before a whole second even elapsed, you grabbed his hand across the carriage, pushed his sleeve up, and bit him just below the inside of the elbow.

He screamed, trying to push you off, but he was drunk and sloppy, and you were ten times stronger.

You could taste the alcohol in his blood before you tasted his emotions. You felt how upset he was, how he truly thought Oscar was betraying him, how he was confused and angry and thought that vampires were so low that they were worse than rats. Vermin, leeches, and that he really did believe they all should die. You felt how he felt when he walked in that day, seeing you on top of Oscar, the fear, the anger, and then the heartbreak and betrayal when he realised you weren’t just feeding on Oscar but also having sex with him.

You were so used to hearing these opinions about you, this past year you were always on the edge of believing it yourself, so when you drank Stuart’s blood it barely made a difference.

You didn’t take much, letting go and licking the bite close quickly, and sitting back in your seat. You didn’t want him to be too woozy, you wanted him to understand. You also didn’t want to get too drunk from his blood.

He stared at his arm, and you could see he was slowly sobering up, now that you drunk some of the alcohol from his veins. He was also not high from your bite enough since it was short and not close enough to his heart, but it was obvious he got enough to feel it properly, and therefore extrapolate what more would feel like.

At least that was what you hoped was going on in his head as he sat there, staring at the small mark of new skin covering where the bite was.

“Do you see? Oscar doesn’t belong to Rea the way he belongs to you. He loves you as his partner. He loves Rea as her coffer.”

He slowly looked up at you after you spoke, “I… I don’t understand this…”

“Do you want Rea to show you again?”

He looked away, “No! how dare you…” he paused, and looked down at his arm again, “you’re saying that every time you bite Oscar he feels like this? Is that’s it? that’s why he lets you do it? why he keeps you alive?”

You shook your head, “It feels better when done properly,” you indicated to your neck, “where it goes faster to the heart and throughout the body. And when done enough times, a bond forms, so that his body will die without Rea’s poison… and an emotional one, because Rea feels his memories, and so his mind belongs to Rea too.” You leaned closer to Stuart again, “It’s about trust and about pleasure, pure pleasure. Do you see? He is not cheating on you because what he and Rea have is completely different kind of relationship. So if you want, you and Rea can have one too.”

This was the first time you ever asked someone to be your coffer after giving them all the details, so you had a sick feeling this was going to blow up in your face.

“No.” Stuart said finally, “this is wrong, so very wrong, and if Oscar can’t see that, then he isn’t worth my time.”

You felt as if Stuart stabbed you in the heart, and you knew this is exactly how Oscar will feel.

“Now you have three seconds to leave before I kill you.”


	20. Chapter יט

It was sunny today, especially for Scotland in March.

Lilibet sat in Norbert’s lap, who was leaning against a tree, with Frannie’s head in her own lap, as she was reading to them ‘Jane Eyre’ out loud.

They have made a habit of this all through the winter, sitting next to the fire under blankets, reading books to each other. Sometimes the vampires would join them, but mostly it was just the three of them.

As humans, they befriended everyone from Garten, but even though the people there knew about vampires, none of them were coffers, and so these three found themselves together more often then not, and as their time living together continued, almost isolated, their relationship developed.

They had to get used to living out in the country, and to the fact that they were no longer servants. Here, alone, the status difference between the humans and their vampires almost diminished, and the difference in lifestyle grew. The Maeve and Sullivan were much more active at night, and if they slept, they did it during the day. On the other hand Lilibet, Frannie and Norbert had a more normal routine, taking care of the cottage, doing chores, but as if they were the only ones living there, since the vampires took care of themselves too.

It was a calm life, nothing much happened as they mostly kept to themselves. They ate, they slept, and they entertained themselves.

Lilibet finished reading a chapter, and decided to take a break, folding the page corner and closing the book. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Norbert’s chest behind her, basking in the warm sun she had missed so much during winter.

“Do you ever wonder what your life would look like now if you haven’t met a vampire?” Frannie mused.

“I know what it would be like, I would still be where I was, sowing leotards in London,” Lilibet shrugged, not bothering to even open her eyes.

“Fair enough, but you see I don’t know. I would probably be married, with children, living in the slums.”

“I mean, I was Maeve’s for a while before she invited me to live in Forty Hall,” Norbert answered, and Lili opened her eyes, turning to see his face, as she realised she had never really talked to him about his past.

“Nor, what did you do before you were the stable boy?”

“Oh nothing much,” he shrugged, his soft brown eyes avoiding her gaze.

Frannie laughed, “Ha! Yeah right,” she sat up, “He was pick pocket! Had his own gang and everything!”

Lilibet stared at him, surprised. She knew him to be so civilised, calm and helpful, she couldn’t imagine him as a boy, running around the streets of London and causing havoc.

He scratched his head, ruffling his dark hair, “I didn’t have a gang…” he muttered under his breath, “I just had a good group of friends.”

The two women laughed, “I can’t believe it!” Lili was short of breath, laughing too hard, noticing how red Norbert’s face became as he blushed. It even got to his ears.

_So adorable…_

“You shouldn’t be ashamed, I think it’s very cool,” Lilibet smiled, “very… skilful,” she chuckled, then leaned on him and kissed him before he had the chance to say another word.

“Lilibet!” Sullivan’s voice suddenly boomed through the trees, and she scrambled to her feet automatically. Sullivan had never shouted like that before… he sounded upset.

Just before she ran off to the cottage, the three humans exchanged worried looks.

Lilibet found him in the doorway, “come, we need to talk,” his tone was serious in a way she had barely heard it before.

Walking in to the living room of the cottage behind Sullivan, she found Maeve sitting there too, and she had red marks on her face that suggested she had cried.

“What’s going on?”

“Lilibet, pet, we just got a word from Octavia,” he put a hand on her shoulder, and with every passing moment she felt her heartbeat climb with fear, “a family friend has spotted Rea in London,” his bright eyes locked on hers, “Lilibet, Rea’s alive.”

_What?_ She thought, staring at him, her brain unable to even comprehend the idea. _Rea? Alive? but…_

“How?” she finally asked, trying to piece things together.

“Well we can only speculate, but we think that when she was captured she wasn’t killed, but was used for some… experiments. Albert Martel, the vampire who saw her, said she was wearing one of those collars that they invented, the ones that they use to make vampires into obedient slaves,” he paused, trying to gauge her reaction, but she was too blank, still shocked, “so she seems to be used now as the personal assistant for the guy who invented the things… Professor Oscar McCoy.”

“I can’t believe someone did that to her…” Maeve’s voice broke and she shook her head, “they fucking tortured her, broke her spirit, turned her insane. It’s revolting that they now have the audacity to keep her around like a trophy, prancing for them.”

“Yes, it looks pretty bad, but Albert said that Professor McCoy smelt like her pretty strongly, so she probably made him her coffer, and if that’s true then she’s not doing that badly after all,” Sullivan replied, trying to maintain calm, but Lilibet could hear in his voice he was upset too. She could barely stand anymore, feeling faint, so she sat herself down next to Maeve.

“Sullivan they took her fucking leg off, and they probably knew dancing meant everything to her, so tell me how she isn’t doing that badly,” Maeve was angry now, her hands forming fists in her lap.

“She’s alive, that’s more than we’ve thought before, it’s not the time to dwell on her state.”

“We… we should go get her,” Lilibet whispered, hugging herself.

The vampires stared at her for a moment, then looked at each other.

“That’s suicidal, with the way London and the south is now, we’re all in grave danger ending up with one of those collars around our necks,” Sullivan sighed, “that’s why my mother told us to hide, remember? that’s why we’re here in the first place.”

“You’re agreeing with Octavia? after everything?” Lilibet felt betrayed as she looked up at him. She thought he was going to do everything to protect her, to protect his family, but now he was suggesting doing nothing?

“I’m… I’m being cautious,” he sighed, sitting down on the big chair in front of her and Maeve, “Lili, you don’t understand what this means to us. As vampires, this is the biggest threat we’ve faced since I was born. I’ve never in my life faced a threat that can make us turn on each other, that can make us rat each other out. We can withstand torture, but those collars… from what I hear they are practically mind-control. Our people are scattering, running and hiding already, and so far already a great family has been discovered and completely wiped out, all either in capture or killed. That has never happened before, not by humans.”

He was truly scared, and sitting next to Maeve, Lilibet felt her shrink into herself in doubt too.

“But… we can’t just leave her. She’s… she’s alive!” she felt desperate, wishing that Sullivan didn’t make that much sense, wishing that these news meant more hope rather than despair.

Rea was alive, and there was nothing to be done. It felt worse than when she thought Rea was dead. It made Lilibet fume and burn out all at the same time.

“I’m sorry Lilibet, for now we were told to stay put, to stay safe and out of sight,” Maeve put her hand on Lilibet’s arm, trying to calm her, but she couldn’t. Maeve might have loved Rea, but she was never her coffer like Lilibet, she never gave her heart and soul to Rea like Lili did. So Lilibet shrugged Maeve away, stood up and sprinted outside as fast as she could, hoping neither of the vampires would stop her (because if they tried, they would succeed). She ran right into the forest, not looking where she was going, simply trying to get away, trying to do something about the fact that her body felt so broken all over again, like when Rea was first taken from her.

She fell over a root, hitting the floor so hard it knocked all the air out of her lungs, and hitting her head on another root hard enough to make her dizzy.

Crawling into a foetal position, hugging her head between her legs, she whimpered, then sobbed, bawling out into the forest and hoping that God, if there was one, would hear her pain and help.

She cried until her voice was sore and her eyes dried, and simply laid there, curled up, whimpering quietly and sniffling.

“Lilibet!” she heard a distance voice, but was too tired to pay it notice, “Lilibet!” it got closer slowly, and as it kept shouting her name she recognised it was Norbert.

“Lilibet! There you are!” he exclaimed when he saw her, running to her and picking her up into seating. He was about to ask something, probably if she was all right, when he saw her puffed eyes and wet face, and shut his mouth, simply hugging her to his chest.

Neither of them said a word for a while, but the fact that he held her comforted her, and she slowly relaxed into him, wiping her face in his shirt.

“Maeve told me what happened…” Norbert said quietly, gently, “is there anything I can do for you?”

She shook her head, “I can’t believe they’re going to leave her for dead like she doesn’t matter at all, I can’t just sit here and do nothing to help her,” she sat up and looked at him, searching for something in his face that would tell her he understood.

“I know,” he sighed, “but you can’t run off and do it alone,” he looked at her carefully, with an expression of pity she did not enjoy, “the only thing you can do is follow Sullivan’s lead, after all you should trust his judgment.”

She looked away, upset with him, but knowing he was right. She loved Rea, she always will, but she knew that she now also belonged to Sullivan. So by virtue of being here, she will have to accept whatever decision Sullivan made.

“What if we convince Sullivan to let us to London? We’re no vampires, we’re in no danger there, so we should be able to go and get Rea… and bring her back here.”

“Lili…” Norbert shook his head, “how do you think we’ll get her? She’s not in prison, we can’t just break her out and run off. No one knows how to deal with these collar things, trying to free her might end up killing her.”

He grabbed Lilibet’s face as she started to turn away and get up, forcing her to look at him, “Lili listen to me, Rea’s a vampire, she has time, either she’ll get herself out or other vampires will, eventually. But we’re human, and we don’t have forever like them…” he was tearing up, something she had never seen him do before, “Please will you just put yourself first, for once?”

He let go of her face, looking down, “Please, will you just think of me, too?”

She didn’t expect this display of emotion from him, didn’t expect him to ask her something like this. Since they’ve known each other in Forty Hall it was always about the vampires. Even following Maeve here, even though he would die otherwise, it was in the end for Maeve, not for himself. And it was the same for LIlibet or Frannie: as a coffer, it was instinct to put the vampire first. So as their relationship grew, it always took the back seat, because they knew they were not here for each other, but for their respective vampires.

Yet now he was asking her to think of him, meaning to put him, and his feelings, before Rea, or even before Sullivan. He was asking her to stay, safe, here… with him, for him.

“I…” she started, not sure what to say, “Nor…” she put her hand on his cheek, making him look at her.

Now they were both with red eyes and wet faces.

“Nor… I… I don’t know how to do that, I don’t know how to give up on Rea like you’re asking me to.”

He bit his lip, “I’m not asking you to give up on her,” he took her hand, “I just don’t want you to leave… to leave me.”

She blushed, looking away from his gaze. This was probably the most romantic conversation she had ever had. Even with Rea it was different, like a dream, unreal and unconnected to anything. But this, the way he was holding her hand, the way he was asking her to stay with him, it suddenly put their relationship in the real world, where people grow old… where people have a future, have children to care for.

“Lilibet?” he asked when she was quiet for too long, squeezing her hand in his.

“Norbert… are you asking me to marry you?” It might have been the conversation they had earlier that day, about what would happen if they weren’t here, or maybe it was the way he started to look at her when they visited the village, but regardless, she had to ask.

He blushed so strongly it looked as if his head would explode, “I… I guess I am…”

They fell silent, looking at each other from the shock of what just happened, both surprised at themselves and the other.

Then, all at once, they kissed each other heatedly. Him, grabbing her waist; she, grabbing his neck.

“I will… I do… I’ll stay,” Lilibet, panting, managed to get the words out between kisses, each word making Norbert hug her tighter.

It wasn’t the first time they’ve had sex on the forest floor.


	21. Chapter XX

“Oscar?” I heard Rea’s voice through my bedroom door. When did I let her into my house again?

“Oscar? You need to get out of bed and eat…” she continued, and I turned around, putting my pillow over my head, wishing she would shut up.

“Oscar, please it has been two days since you’ve left that room.”

“Go away!” I shouted, throwing a shoe that was near the bed at the door.

I couldn’t see her face right now, I couldn’t deal with her right now.

She was the reason he left…

She is the reason I got a letter two days ago with Stuart’s ring in, and a note saying, “I wish you well, Goodbye.”

I sighed in relief as I heard her steps leading away, the loud step of her metal leg after a silent one. I wrapped myself better in my blankets as my eyes swelled up, and like hundreds of times before, I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up to my bedroom door hitting the floor, and turned around to see Rea standing next to me. Did she seriously just kick my door down?

“Oscar, get up, now!”

“What? What the fuck did you do? get out of my room!”

She left immediately, but only to stand just outside of my broken door, “Oscar, you need to get up, need to leave now or both you and Rea are going to die…” she kept turning her head as if listening for something.

Has she finally gone completely insane?

I sat up in my bed, picking up the bottle of Aconite I kept on my bed-side table since Stuart left. I wasn’t sure when I first placed it there whether it was for me or for Rea, but now I held it against her: if she had lost the little sanity she had before, I needed it, so I could make her drink it until the psychosis passes.

“What are you talking about? Rea what the hell is going on?” the way she looked, genuinely scared, made me forget for a second that I was angry with her.

“They… They found out, about Rea biting you,” she was so jumpy, it made me anxious, “Rea was in her room, and she heard it… Rea heard Stuart tell the general, and…” she started crying, her face covering with blood, “Rea heard a gun shot, and so Rea went to peak, and saw Stuart… he’s dead. And, and, and the general sent people here to get you, to get Rea, to kill too.”

She was speaking so fast, I could barley make sense of her words. I didn’t want to make sense of her words.

“Rea… what… what are you saying?”

She was crying so hard now, on her knees at my door, “Rea can hear hunters coming down the street.”

I went to my window, and saw she was telling the truth: a squad of five hunters was making their way to my front door. They were armed, and they did not look as if they were going to make a friendly visit.

No time to think, have to get out of here.

“Rea, pick me up and run out of the back door, I need you to take me to an inn, on the other side of London, called the Crown and Anchor. Now get us out of here!” I said just as one of the hunters knocked on the front door.

Obedient as always she picked me up, and carried me as the air from my lungs disappeared and my vision blurred. I almost fainted when finally she stopped running, and we were just in front of the Crown and Anchor.

“Oh my god, never, never do that again,” I coughed, trying to catch my breath, and stumbled into the pub. I found a table in the corner and sat down.

I knew we didn’t have much time here before we were found, but at least here I could get her to calm down and talk.

“Rea, sit and tell me exactly what happened.”

“Rea said, she was in her room and was just listening to everything in the building… then Rea smelt Stuart, so she listened to his conversation… and she heard him tell the general that you have let Rea feed off you, and that he knew that for a while, and he even told the general that Rea bit him too… Then the general just… just thanked Stuart for his honesty, and then Rea heard him get shot. Went to see and saw him dead,” she was crying again, wiping it away quickly, and then she kept talking, but I couldn’t hear a word.

Stuart? Stuart is dead?

It can’t be, he can’t be… we were meant to stay together forever. We were supposed to be happy forever.

“Oscar?”

“You said the general shot him?”

She nodded, “Probability is that he did, but if it wasn’t him it was a different hunter. Rea doesn’t know their names… only their smells.”

I looked down at my hands, these hands that have spent so long trying to help the hunters to kill vampires, because I believed that they were saving lives… just like Stuart saved mine.

Yet now, they just killed one of their own without blinking, because of what? Because he let a vampire bite him? Because they just didn’t like him enough?

My hands slowly closed into fists as I realised that these people gave as much respect to human life as they did to vampire life.

And if that was so, then what was the difference?

Was there a difference?

I’ve spent more than a year now with a vampire. I’ve talked with her, even slept with her, and she had never seemed to me any less alive than my colleagues. I’ve broken other vampires, and saw them respond to threat and violence and they did never seem less compassionate than people I called friends.

The realisation slowly came that I have done something bad.

I’ve done something wrong.

These creatures, this race, yes they would be useful as slaves, but in reality, why did they deserve to be? It seems that they have caused just as much death as humans have. They should be free like every man should be.

Because what’s the fucking difference anyway?

“Rea, I have one final command for you,” I said, looking at her straight in the eyes, “turn me into a vampire.”

I awoke at dawn, the heat of the rising sun itching on my skin, and found myself crawling into the shade before I even realised I was awake.

I sat up slowly, looking around me, looking at my self.

Everything seemed so much brighter, so much sharper, and when I breathed in a surge of information hit my brain that was almost overwhelming: on top of the amount of noise my brain was receiving I was truly swamped, almost in shock. I just sat there for who knows how long, trying to make sense of it all.

“Good morning Oscar,” a voice pulled my attention, and I turned my head to focus on its source.

Rea, with short black hair and the collar still around her neck. Now when I looked at her I felt like I could finally _see_ her, my instincts so ready to call her master.

Then I remembered why we were here, on the river ledge, hiding under a bridge.

Hungry, angry, and seeking revenge, my mind focused finally, managing to ignore the scary amounts of information my brain was trying to make sense of, in order to concentrate on one single goal.

“Shall we go turn some tables?” I asked, and then feeling like I have to ask for permission, added, “mother?”

Her eyes widened, an expression so complicated on her face that I couldn’t possibly understand what was going on in her mind, but she finally nodded.

“Yes, let us go and win this vendetta.”


	22. Chapter כ״א

“You want to what?” Maeve stood up in the living room of the cottage, her cheeks bright red.

“Maeve, calm down,” Sullivan’s voice was sweet, and it was clear he was trying not to grin. Once Maeve sat down again, he stood up and walked to Norbert, who was standing next to Lilibet who was blushing too hard to say a word.

“The answer is yes, you may have Lilibet’s hand in marriage,” the tall vampire looked down to the man Lilibet was trying to marry, and that exchange made her feel both anxious and very happy. In the end of the day, even if Maeve lets Norbert marry her, she knew this will not change her relationship to Sullivan, and she hoped would not change his relationship to Maeve…

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Maeve grumbled, looking agitated in a way Lilibet has never seen her before: she was jealous.

“No, you don’t, because you need to let this man have his own life outside of you, he is not your toy to pull around with a string.” Sullivan’s expression now darkened, “and you need to get over this monogamist bullshit Octavia has pushed on you.”

Maeve’s face turned even redder, and she looked away, ashamed. It was clear to Lilibet that Sullivan was doing everything he could to educate Maeve to be different than the rest of the family: and since he was the stronger of the two, she couldn’t argue much.

Turning back to Norbert and Lilibet, Sullivan let himself fully show his excitement, smiling from ear to ear.

“Would you give me the honour of conducting the ceremony?”

“Are you… have you been a priest?” Lilibet questioned, raising an eyebrow. Regardless of how different this marriage was likely going to be to any other, she still wanted to be married in a church under the eye of God.

“I was for a time, yes, between 1609 and 1630. I grew bored of it quite quickly,” he shrugged, and before he could continue Norbert nodded, “I think… I think that would work well.”

During the next week Lilibet almost managed to forget about Rea. She was taken by storm with the wedding preparations, with flowers and invitations. So on a Saturday afternoon, at the church in the village, with everyone there, Sullivan asked, “do you?” and Lilibet said “I do.”

The party lasted late into the night, but in the end, for the first time, Lilibet went to sleep in Norbert’s room, which later stopped being known as his room all together and was simply known as their room.

It was during that party that Sullivan pulled Lilibet to the side, “I would suggest you lay off the booze a little,” he said with a warm smile.

“What? Why?” she laughed, indeed already a little tipsy.

“Because you’re pregnant, and it might harm the baby.”

“What?”

“I started smelling it a couple of days ago but I wasn’t sure how to tell you until now. I am pretty certain you’re with child.”

Taking a moment, she finally found what to say.

“Who’s is it?” She was still finding it hard to accept, but has thought of bearing children since she first got her period, because after all that’s what it was for. And especially because of the wedding it was on her mind more recently…

“Who’s?” Sullivan was surprised at her question, “Norbert’s of course… Vampires can’t impregnate for all that I know.”

“Oh, right, of course,” the feeling of wooziness from the ale was now unwelcome, so she sat herself down at a chair along the side of the hall. She was trying to understand what this meant, for her, for Norbert, for everyone in her life.

_Me? A mother?_ she thought, and then looked at Sullivan, who sat next to her in the mean time.

“Going to have to take it easy from now on, I won’t want to risk anything by actually feeding from you,” he leant close to her so no one else would hear, and she nodded in agreement, her hands finding themselves on her stomach.

“You’re going to be all right, don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

She shook her head, realising that he wasn’t really worried about this child, but actually worried about her.

“Sullivan, this child’s life is more important than mine… please, remember that is what I’m trying to protect, so you help me protect it too.”

His eyes sunk, his jaw locking, “Lilibet, I am not in the notion to let you die because of a baby.”

“Then you’re going to have to keep us both alive. Deal?” She looked him straight in the eyes, lips pressed. If she could stand up to him for anything, this was it.

It was much later that night, when she was lying with Norbert and he tried to consummate their marriage that she had to tell him too.

“Norbert… no… wait… there’s something I have to tell you.”

He paused in his kissing of her body, raising a drunk eyebrow.

“I’m… I’m pregnant,” she blushed, hoping he won’t be mad.

He sat up, looking at her, “are you sure?” he asked, passing his hand on his face in an effort to wake himself up.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure, I’m quite late, and Sullivan said he can smell it…”

“Right… well,” he chuckled nervously, blushing, “guess it’s good timing.”

Slapping him gently on the chest, she laughed, “Norbert! be serious!” she rolled her eyes, “we’re… going to be parents sooner rather than later.”

He kissed her passionately, “I’m glad.”

The second Maeve and Frannie knew Lilibet was pregnant they went practically hysterical. They were both so excited for the notion of a baby they started together to make plans on how to take care of Lilibet and make sure she goes through this pregnancy.

The whole party, the two vampires and their three coffers, were sitting in the living room one evening, almost two months after they discovered Rea was alive, simply spending time in each other’s company. Since they heard Rea had fled her captivity everyone calmed down dramatically. She was going to be just fine, and there was nothing much to do about it now: only thing that mattered was Lilibet and the baby. But that evening, Sullivan abruptly froze in the middle of a sentence, eyes wide staring at Lilibet. Maeve looked at him, then seemed to freeze too.

“What? What is it?” Lilibet felt worried. Had something happened to the baby?

“I… I can hear two heartbeats…” Sullivan said slowly, then looked at Maeve, “do you smell it too?”

Maeve nodded, “I… how?”

Twins! Lilibet was excited, but quickly distracted by the fact that Sullivan and Maeve still seemed on edge about something.

“This is my baby, can you please tell me what you know?” Lilibet crossed her arms on her chest. Her stomach already started to grow a little and it gave her authority to be short tempered when she wanted without much consequences.

“Two heartbeats are clear, but one of them is much slower than the other… that and the smell suggest that one of the babies is not fully human…” Maeve said carefully, seating on the edge of the sofa, eyes focused on Sullivan as if she was ready to jump in between him and Lili.

But he didn’t make a move, instead Lilibet got to see this vampire cry for the first time, this vampire whom she had always looked up to, and thought that, after his past, nothing could break.

Face covered with blood tears he slowly and gently made his way to Lilibet, taking her hand and listening carefully, then, with a small voice, he whispered:

“I’m a father.”


End file.
